"My first experience of the life that is lived inside of arctic circles was as surgeon of the first Peary expedition in 1891. Since then I have loved everything connected with arctic life.

"I took a fancy to the South Pole because it is a greater mystery than the North. We know scarcely anything about the Antarctic Continent except that it comprises 8,000,000 square miles.

"There has been no official expedition to the region of the South Pole since that of Ross, more than fifty years ago.

"For years I have been in correspondence with Lieut. Adrien De Gerlache. He is an engineer in the Belgian army and a South Pole enthusiast, and has raised nearly $50,000 with which to fit out the expedition.

"His vessel, La Belgica, is a steamer with bunkers large enough to carry a six months' supply of coal. She will be the first steamer that has ever touched the Antarctic Continent.

"From Rio Janeiro we shall sail due south past the Falkland Islands, landing at Graham's Land, the northwest point of the Antarctic Continent.

"We shall then push into the interior as near to the Pole as possible, returning at some point on the north coast, where we shall join the La Belgica again and expect to reach Melbourne, Australia, about April 1.

"The partial solving of the mystery of the magnetic current is the especial object of our expedition. I consider it far more important than the mere location of the South Pole. "

Reproduced with permission: L.L. Dyche, Explorations (Newspaper Clippings Related to Polar Exploration), Vol. 1 & 2. University Archives, Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries, Lawrence, KS.