The Antarctic regions

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THE ANTARCTIC REGIONS

SOME OPINIONS OF THE PRESS

“The Antarctic Pole is a place with a past of meagre romance. Dr. Fricker’s
book embodies that past. It is an exhaustive account of what has been done up to
the time of its going to press.’’—Academy.

“An excellent summary of all that, up to the date of the Newnes Expedition,
has been accomplished in Antarctic exploration.”—Daily News. ,

‘Among the modern books on the Southern ice regions with accounts of
attempts to penetrate the great frozen cap this is one of the best we have seen.
The illustrations are very striking and give a good idea to the reader of the
fantastically wild cnaracter oi the ice shapes and more stable land-contours.”—
Science Gosstp.

“As a playground for the hardy adventurer the South Pole is without a
parallel, and Dr. Fricker’s collected notes show what brave men have already done
towards its exploration and what yet remains for others to accomplish.”—Daily
Telegraph.

“The book is a good compilation thoroughly to be recommended. The history
of Antarctic Exploration is dealt with fully. The chapter dealing with the ice is
particularly interesting, for the problems awaiting solution are clearly pointed
out.” —A theneum.

“Dr. Fricker has brought within brief compass the salient points in the
discoveries of all the Antarctic explorers since Capt. Cook made his daring journey
in that region, and has assigned the honour of first discovering various southern
lands to the navigator who merits the palm.”—Dundee Advertiser.

“It need hardly be said that in a work so scientific the maps have been con-
structed with great care. As for the plates and illustrations, which are numerous
and beautifully finished, the author assures us that they are in every respect
authentic, having been taken exclusively from the works of explorers, and none of
them left to the imagination of the artist.”—Glasgow Herald,

“A first-rate translation of an interesting and valuable book. As a handbook
on the subject the volume is both complete and reliable, every fact being carefully
authenticated. We recommend the volume to the attention of all who are
interested in Arctic and Antarctic exploration as an excellent guide to what has
been accomplished throughout the centuries. A feature of special interest is the
large number of illustrations, which have been collected from important and
authenticated sources, many of them never having been published before.”—
Westminster Gazette.

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ANTARCTIC REGIONS

BY

De KARL. PRICKER

WITH MAPS, PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

MARINE
BIOLOGICAL
LABORATORY

Chi eaabeene
LIBRARY

a
WOODS HOLE, MASS.
w. H. O. t.

LONDON
=e AN SONNENSCHEIN & CO,,
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

LIMITED

1904

TRANSLATED

BY

A. SONNENSCHEIN

First Epition, August, 1900; SECOND EDITION,
May 1904.

POVLORIAE. NOE

LirtLeE apology seems needed just at the present time
for the publication of a new book, if only a translation
from a foreign language, on the subject of Antarctic
exploration. Germany and Belgium are actively fitting
out expeditions under Government auspices, and in
England private munificence has come to the assistance
of the Learned Societies to whom a conditional Parlia-
mentary grant of £45,000 has already been promised.
Scotland, too, we hear, is fitting out an expedition to
work in combination with the others.

This book, being at once comprehensive and concise,
will enable the public to realise all that has been done in
the past, and to estimate how much still remains to be
done in the future, in the vast field of Antarctic ex-
ploration.

Since 1843, when Sir James Ross returned from the
Antarctic, attention has been almost exclusively centred
in Arctic exploration. The unexplored area around the
North Pole has gradually receded, until in 1895, under
Dr. Nansen, the high latitude of 86° 14° N. was reached.
This is 500 miles nearer the pole than the highest latitude
—78° 10 S.—attained by Sir J. Ross in the southern
Inemispnere. But since 1692 the tide of imterest has
turned, and the South Pole again offers a field of
danger, difficulty, enterprise and scientific research to
the explorer.

A Belgian expedition under De Gerlache left Antwerp
in 1897, and the preparations for a splendidly-equipped
German expedition, under the leadership of Herr Erich
von Drygalski, are being rapidly pushed forward: the

vi EDITORIAL NOTE.

special ship building for it, under the advice of the
Construction Department of the German Imperial Navy,
is alone to cost £4 30,000.

Since going to press, Sir G. Newnes’ expedition,
under the scientific direction of Dr. Borchgrevingk, has
returned, having attained the important scientific object
of the location of the Southern Magnetic Pole—or rather
the group of points of intense magnetic - influence, of
which a Magnetic Pole is now supposed to consist ; longi-
tude, 146 E. ; latitude, 73° 20'S. The voyage seems to.
have been full of unexpected discoveries, and of unique
opportunities afforded by a whole year of steady work on
shore, with the help of sledge journeys for making addi-
tional observations. Thus on 16th February, 1900, the
Southern Cross reached the extreme southern limit
of her voyage, and Mr. Borchgrevingk went on nearly
due south by sledge for a day’s journey, reaching latitude
78 50’ S., the ‘farthest south” yet visited. The tale of
that long and dreary Antarctic winter, 2,500 miles from
the nearest point of land in Australia, will add one element
of human interest that has not till now enlivened the
records of southern exploration. In view of lectures and
books dealing with the latest voyage, and also the results
to be expected from the National Antarctic Expedition
under Dr. Gregory as its scientific head, and Lieutenant
R. F. Scott as commander, the present volume will, it
is hoped, fulfil its purpose of rousing and_ stimulating
interest in enterprises that specially appeal to British.
readers.

Tue TRANSLATOR.

AUTHORS PREPACE,

Wuen I was honoured with the inquiry whether |
should feel disposed to undertake the preparation of
the volume on Zhe Antarctic Regions, some doubts and
difficulties lay in the way of an immediate affirmative
response. The gravity of the task, especially in the
light of the very short time accorded to it, was from the
first obvious, and all the more so because I had not the
actual and personal acquaintance with the regions to be
described that is exacted by the conditions under which
such a work should, ideally, be undertaken. This draw-
back, it must be acknowledged, has relatively diminished
in importance since the recent death of Captain Dallmann,
for no one now in Germany has with his own eyes beheld
the Antarctic world, and so far as adequate compensation
for such drawback can be made, it has been secured by
drawing everywhere and in the forefront upon all available
sources in their complete and original form—a list of the
more important of which will be found in the Appendix
to this volume.

Another and a supreme difficulty, in the way of a
satisfactory account of the Antarctic regions, is the re-
markably scanty information that was collected during
certain few voyages of exploration that spread over more
than 100 years. The unavoidable gaps, however, drive
home one important fact—the absolute necessity, in the
cause of science, of voyages of Antarctic exploration.
For this reason the history of voyages of discovery
occupies a space that in any description of another
geographical area would rightly be regarded as_ ex-
cessive. It would, however, be quite impossible to

viii PREFACE.

justify the scant knowledge possessed concerning the
Antarctic regions unless all details were given.

The enforced brevity of the descriptions is, however,
compensated for by the authentic illustrations. They
are taken exclusively from works of travel ; not a single
one has been subjected to imaginative touches, still less
to the invention of the delineator. My thanks are due
to Herr Rudolf Fitzner for his selection of the numerous
plates taken from the Ad¢das Pittoresque of Dumont
d'Urville’s great work, and also for his vigilant super-
vision in the production of both plates and text.

Besides the illustrations that have been taken from
older works, the reader will find new ones, some now pub-
lished for the first time. I owe Dr. Georg Neumayer,
Privy Councillor to the Admiralty, Director of the
German Marine Observatory, and a past master of
Antarctic exploration, my cordial thanks for the ample
assistance he has afforded from his store of scientific
knowledge. Equal courtesy has been shown me by
Dr. John Murray, D.Ses.-LE.D.,: Ph.D!,- Fo RoSsatae
eminent member of the Challenger expedition, and one
of the editors of the magnificent series of volumes dealing
with its results. The present work is embellished by
numerous illustrations of icebergs from observations
made on board the Challenger, Dr. Murray having
kindly entrusted me with the water-colour drawings—
some not before published—for reproduction.

The general map of the Antarctic regions is based
in all essentials on the excellent large map by Vincenz
V. Haardt, though some additions and corrections have
been made by the Author, who has thus set forth his
own conclusions, more particularly in connection with
the extent of the land; his reasons are fully given in
the text.

KARL FRICKER.

ieee (Or CONTENTS:

CHAP. PAGE
MB OSERTONGANIDE IMIS: Wie” tian ate-, 9S eee I
NeRENISTrORY, OF DISCOVERY “.22 9... eR te a Be ; 6

Opinions of the Ancient and Medizval World respect-

ing the Far South. Amerigo Vespucci .... __..... 6
The New Terra Australis and the Proof of its Non-

EGXISCENCEM ek wee |) Ogee Aes OM ee | ae lS
PromyCock to Dallemy.<n8) ("nde | - ikki) Seen 46
Dumont DiUrville; Wilkes Koss) 8) yan, | cc. 67
Wovaces after unoss towne, Presents lame, 92... aoe IE

III. CoNFORMATION OF THE SURFACE AND GEOLOGICAL

STRUCLURES tA leotie Beraty Wage \ teS 22 132

1. The Bouvet Islands... i AOR ees ee toe 136

2 Uhelslandrof,SouthvGeorgia 6 V2 vue oan 139

a5) he South Sandwich Islands’ © ce 7 es 149

faihe South Orkney Uslands: 2-5 9 a. 9 Re | oe 152

5. the south Shetland Islands" -..... cM whee 155

Geeuhne WirkGercitz Archipelago, 2 922° Ge.) 4 170

7. Graham’s Land and Alexander Land ites We 186

SeMVIC LOL an ANG pera Pr seme Ohne GR ca” bytes, ates 194

Ga herballeny Islestsy ee 23 8 Sil Seem 208

HOME VVAKES MILAN, te ae hk fh sen a 210

11. Enderby Land and the Neighbouring Districts _..... 223

I Pes CC RUNTATE ner eeh ER ee ate eo ecedary’ oath 228
Who YEO gl (CTS i a Uae gr 246
RHIPEAUNACAND. EUORA CS) 22A aie Uae i joes 266
Vif. tne Furure oF Antarctic DISCOVERY .... 9 ... 274.
VIII. List oF IMporTANT Books, ARTICLES AND Maps __..... 283
IPRS et enn sete WN aN” Sn RE Shen. tae) Se 287

BisttOr TLEUSTRALIONS, MALS, Exc.

FULL-PAGE PLATES.

The Inaccessible Islands (after Dumont d’Urville) Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
Iceberg in the Southern Orkney Isles (after Dumont d’Urville) 62

Landing at Adélie Land (after Dumont d’Urville) 84
James Clark Ross (after a steel engraving in the possession of
DrpGa NCUINAVED)E Wate jene. Din Se TT Pie gz
Landing at the Weddell Islands (after Dumont d’Urville) —..... 152
Elephant Island (after Dumont d’Urville) ee ns 156
The Astrolabe lying off Louis-Philippe Land (after Dumont
RaW pevtble) meri ees ee tina Pct ere a he Rane ge 174
The Challenger in the Ice (after an unpublished drawing) __ .... 224
The Astrolabe and La Zelée in the Ice (after Dumont d’Urville) 248
Forms of Icebergs (after the Challenger Reports) 252, 254, 256
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
PAGE
Terra Australis (after Schéner’s Globe of 1533) oats 16.
erro Australes (ater Ortelius, 1571) 9 os at oe 21
Mierracaustralis (aiter Mercator, 1648) a. 9 eae 26:
Captain James Cook es... a ime Be on en eicae 35
Ippeceesion, Day gOOuUthiGeoreial ath in ha) eh? eae ee 43
Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen...... —_—..... sts ace hs 49
Hiilesssebastien César Dumont dUrville.. = ee vi
lee Structure in the South Orkney Islands 00.2. a... 2
meeneres tothe. Nort of Adélie Wands 2.9 X mene A pees ees 76
The Astrolabe and La Zelée on the Coast of Adélie Land __..... a7;
mesrovcny,or tie Clarie Coast Siti ee Oe ek 80
ESM KES tiem Nie fon RS ot y Meee NSN aL akan oy) coiet 82
The Vincennes in Disappointment Bay 220 0 0 2. cee ne 86,

Miounte vwantorancdelVMiountsAdame se ee ee ees 96

xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, ETC:

PAGE
Cape Crozier and Mount Terror) 27.) (ee 2e EGS Weck 5 98
Map of South Georgia > F..2)) open) eet e) Go 143
Map of the South Sandwich Isles= =) 20>). yes I51
Map of the South Orkney Islands"— =). =. |) 2a 153
Map of the ‘Dick Gerritz Archipelago, 72) 2. eee 17)
Bridgeman Islands: 2.4 /) Wi pe. Sage age een a eee 164.
Map of Deception Island) 227)... are ae ann 52 165
View of Deception Island= 3 a= en ee a) ee 167
Louis-Philippe and’ es Ft ee ee 17
Mount Haddington and (Cape Gage eee cere 179
Cockburn Island‘and AdmuraltyvSayiy 2 0) eo eee 183
Mapvof, Victoria Land. | s23 905 cya ee ge ey eee 196
Mount Sabine and Possession Island (7) Ss <4. es 198
Coulman Island, 52 | 5 22 ee ee ee eee 201
Volcano of Mount Erebus and Beaufort Island... 0. un. 203
Greatilice*Barrier, “i, _ \t.4 ° be ee ee ee 205
Map of Wilkes Land MM a ods Re Ac 20%
Cape Hudson (two views)”. 9 07.. ) ee sett.) aed aera 214
View of Adélic Land at Cap de la Découverte™ = 3 ee 215
Adélieé, Land 23) (e0k" «2.5 2S eee a ee 215
Pointe Géologie °!.. <.. SRE 9 ae eee 216
Coast Island at: Pointe Géolosie | Wes) eco aoe 207,
Adélie Iand (twouwviews)) (5 Ee ie ee 218
View of the Coast of Clarie ae ae ln, Ne lal a 219
Map of the Distribution of Temperature7> =... Ses ae 2315
Map of the Distribution of Atmospheric Pressure —_...._...... 239
Icebergs (Challenger Expedition) .. 9... | 251, 256, 261
Tussock Grassy 9) i" (te) Tee Gee) oe ee ee 267
Georg Neumayer 0 5 2 4 ie. wid: (ii aed ee ee 275

John’ Murray...) Se 0 cel Et Qo eg 278

EO L@sl tion AND ELEMIS:

THE very word Antarctic indicates the situation of the
region to be described in the following pages ; it is the
opposite, the antipodes, of the Arctic region: in other
words, the tracts surrounding the South Pole, as those
surround the North Pole. It is thus the polar cap of the
southern hemisphere of our planet to which we turn our
attention, and we immediately dispense with the limits
indicated by longitude, since the region before us includes
the whole circumference in the higher southern latitudes.

The inquiry as to the limits of latitude to be assigned
to the Antarctic regions is not so readily met, and it is
by no means easy to decide what may justly be con-
sidered its limits. A glance at the map shows that the
terms Antarctic and southern polar zone cannot be strictly
regarded as convertible terms. The latter is limited by
the south polar circle, a purely mathematical line owing
its significance to the relative position of our earth to the
sun, and the consequently varying length of the day—
a variation that (within the polar circle) lies between 24
hours and o. On the other hand, the countries hitherto
discovered round the South Pole, and unconnected with
the land of any other portion of the earth, universally
though only slightly exceed the limits of the polar circle
in the direction of the equator. It is well known that
the same difference is to be found between the north
polar zone and north polar lands, since a large portion
of Greenland as well as the essentially polar country

of Baffin’s Bay both extend to the south of the Arctic
il

2 THE ANTARCTIC.

circle ; yet it would not occur to any one to regard the
southern section of Greenland outside the polar circle—
scarcely, if at all, differing in its natural conditions from
the northern section—as other than polar country. It is
impossible therefore to assign limits to polar regions by
a mere mathematical line, and they must be taken to
include all regions having, in the first and foremost
place, an essentially polar climate. But even so, the
difficulty of determining the limits of the Antarctic region
does not entirely disappear. A glance at the map be-
tween 50 and 60 S. latitude shows a number of
islands, far distant from larger masses of land, such as
South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, and the
Bouvet Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, the Marion
Islands, the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen and Heard Island
in the Southern Indian Ocean. All these islands lie to
the south of a line within which the mean temperature
of the warmest month scarcely reaches the point which
has been accepted as the determining limit of the polar
climate, vzz., 50. F. Moreover, this circle would include
not only the Falkland Isles, not far distant from the
coast of South America, but even a portion of the west
coast of South America itself, and we should thus have
to deal with too extensive a region under the heading of
the Antarctic. Another and better definition and limit is
readily found in the dzstrzbutzon of ze.

Upon all, or nearly all, maps representing the southern
hemisphere the name “ Antarctic Ocean” is entered all
round the South Pole, although there is actually nowhere
any land or even submarine elevation to justify such a
limitation. On the contrary, the three great oceans of
the earth, the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean,
completely merge into one another south of a line drawn
from the Cape of Good Hope to the south coast of
Australia, and only the narrow South American continent
comes as an incomplete barrier between the Atlantic and

-

POSITION AND LIMITS. 8

Pacific as far south as 56° S. latitude. As a matter of fact,
therefore, the waters unite in one universal ocean, and
their separation south of the Antarctic circle is in itself
purely arbitrary. Nevertheless, it is quite allowable to
retain the notion of a separate polar sea, if we thereby
indicate the physical characteristics of the south polar
regions. If now we define the southern polar sea as Ul.

region which is reached by floating ice-floes, and th:
Antarctic countries as the countries lying within this
zone, we secure a working limit. Approximately it tallies
with 59 or 60 S. latitude, although in the Atlantic it is
somewhat lower, including, as it does, the islands and
island groups of South Georgia, the South Sandwich and
the Bouvet Islands. As undoubted Antarctic countries
three regions are encountered, of which the first may
include the islands and perhaps mainland lying to the
south of the South American continent-—-the Dirk-
Gerritz Archipelago with Graham’s Land, Alexander
Land, and Peter I. Island far away to the west. The
most advanced station to the north and east is occupied
by the South Orkney Islands in latitude 61° S. and
longitude 45° W., in a latitude approaching that of
Bergen or the northernmost Shetland Isles in the north-
ern hemisphere, and somewhat west of the meridian of
Rio de Janeiro, and of Cape Farewell, the southern ex-
tremity of Greenland. The southernmost point therefore
of the north polar lands and the corresponding northern-
most point of the south polar lands lie on the same
meridian of longitude. These countries are washed on
the east by the South Atlantic, and these waters received
the name of George I V. Sea from their discoverer Weddell.
The present author elsewhere proposes the name _ of
Weddel! Sea instead. Towards the north the land forms
a southern boundary of the waters uniting the Atlantic to
the Pacific, so that compared with the complete union of
the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on the one hand, and of

4 THE ANTARCTIC.

the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on the other, this portion
partakes of the nature of straits. The present author
therefore proposes the name of Drake’s Straits, in honour
of the great English hero and navigator who was the
first to investigate these waters. Finally, to the west,
the extreme south-eastern portion of the Pacific Ocean
washes the shores of Graham’s and Alexander Lands,
whose most distant accurately-seen point, Peter I. Island,
is situated in latitude 60° S. and longitude 91° W. ;
approximately therefore on the meridian of St. Louis, or
New Orleans, in the United States of North America.

A second, and according to present knowledge far
less extensive, tract of country lies to the south of the
Indian Ocean; these are the coasts known as Enderby
Land and Kemp Land, occupying on the Antarctic circle
about the space lying between 46° and 60° of E.
longitude. In regard of the meridians it therefore cor-
responds in extent to Persia, though it must be borne
in mind that in these high latitudes the distance between
two meridians is scarcely the half of the same meridians
in the mean latitude of Persia. Towards the west of
the two coasts named above, it is conjectured that more
land exists, but these doubtful appearances of land will
be discussed completely further on.

Last of all there remains a third group of Antarctic
lands, the largest of all, to the south of the Australian
continent. Here land has been more or less distinctly
seen over a region extending from 105° E. longitude to
155 W. longitude, therefore across upwards of 100°.
The northernmost point of this tract is Cape Carr in
about 65° S. latitude and 132° E. longitude, approximately
on the meridian of the Japanese island of Kiusiu, or the
western part of New Guinea. To the west of 165° E.
longitude the land known as Wilkes Land lies close along
the line of the Antarctic circle, to the east it apparently
sweeps in two stretches towards the south, and bears

POSITION AND LIMITS. 5

the name of Victoria Land. The region connected with
this far away to the south is known as the Great Ice
Barrier, and the open bay of the Pacific between the
barrier and Victoria Land is known as Ross’ Sea.

Thus all the countries, or rather all the coasts, have
been named which human discovery has up to the
present brought to our knowledge of the Antarctic. As
to the probability that renewed explorations will dis-
cover more and that all the parts named will be found
to belong to one and the same south polar continent,
or whether they are merely scattered island groups,
these points will be discussed at the close of this work.
In the present state of our knowledge, it would evidently
be presumptuous to undertake the calculation of the
area of the Antarctic land-surface. Taking the equal
division of land and water in the hitherto unexplored
area of the south polar regions for granted—a mere
conjecture—Hermann Wagner gives 3,500,000 square
miles as the extent of the land in the Antarctic regions,
an area therefore equal to that of the continent of
Australia with Oceana.

I: ISTORYSOR DISCOVERY:

OPINIONS OF THE ANCIENT AND MEDIAZZVAL WORLD
RESPECTING THE FAR SOUTH. AMERIGO VUSPUCCE

Ir is a remarkable phenomenon that in most sciences the
history of discovery repeats itself, and that deductive
speculation presses forward far in advance of inductive
investigation—in as far of course as both can be applied
to a particular science—and often arrives at surprising
conclusions, which frequently are entirely forgotten later
on until time has proved them to be correct ; on the other
hand perfectly mistaken conceptions petrify into dogma in
the course of centuries and are preserved intact until their
error is proved by overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
The history of geography forms no exception to this rule.
Like almost all other sciences it is firmly rooted in the
ground of ancient Greek speculations, and the opinions
on which it was based dominated the whole period of the
Middle Ages, partly through the medium of Arabic
learning; and only a few choice spirits attempted to
develop it in any spirit of progress beyond the most
primitive conception. Justas Aristotle was the recognised
authority in natural science, so in geography was the re-
nowned physicist, astronomer and geographer, Claudius
Ptolemy. It is to him that we owe, perhaps not the
earliest, but certainly the most definite notion of an
extensive southern continent on our planet, with carto-
graphic representations of the union of south-eastern Asia
with Africa in such a manner that the Indian Ocean is
regarded as a closed inland sea like the Mediterranean.

(6)

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY, if

It also assigned southern limits to the Atlantic Ocean
on the west coast of Africa. Neither was Ptolemy the
first to give expression to this view; his predecessors in
the field of scientific geography—Seleucus, Eratosthenes,
Hipparchus and Strabo—had at least held no different
conception of the outlines of the Indian Ocean, and
according to the opinion of many the conjecture can
be traced back even to Aristotle. But the earlier
geographers are justified by the fact that the outlines
of the east coast of Africa were known to them only as
far as the region of the lower ranges of the Spice
mountains, at present known as Cape Gardafui, and
they might therefore assume that the coast stretched
still farther away to the east, an impression doubtless
strengthened by the situation of the outlying island of
Socotra. These conjectures, however, must have been
given up in the case of Ptolemy; he knew from the
singularly accurate sailing hand-books of the Greek and
Arabian mariners who visited the east coast of Africa
from Adana—the modern Aden—that the coast line ran
not only south, but south-west, in their voyages to the
extreme southern stations at which they stopped. These
voyages generally ceased at the promontory of Rhaptum,
probably the modern Kilwa on the coast of German East
Africa. Concerning this promontory, some ancient sail-
ing rules which have been preserved since the first
century of the Christian era—the Periplus Maris Ery-
thraei—state that “the universal and unexplored ocean
stretches away beyond Rhaptum to the west, where, to
the south of Ethiopia, Lybia and Africa, it unites with
the western (z.¢., the Atlantic) ocean”. The general
direction of the African coast was therefore very well
known, whether the knowledge was derived from the
accounts of Arabian mariners, or from the traditions of the
circumnavigation of Africa by Phoenician vessels in the
sixth and seventh centuries before the Christian era. In

8 THE ANTARCTIC.

any event, Ptolemy, through his firm hold of the
dogma that the Indian and perhaps even the Atlantic
Ocean was enclosed, was the originator of the views held
with the greatest tenacity till only last century, respect-
ing the existence of a great terminal southern continent.
This Zerra austrais, either inhabitable or inhabited,
and presumably the extreme boundary of the earth in the
south, was proved by the discoveries of the great
navigator James Cook to have no existence as regards
its assumed character and contour.

In the Middle Ages, Arabic learning and science took
the place of that of ancient Greece; indeed the Greek
notions respecting the world owe their continued trans-
mission and existence to oriental teaching. In Christian
Europe this knowledge was limited to a few learned
thinkers; while among the larger numbers of the com-
paratively educated, even in the days of the fathers of
the Church, Greek science and speculation gradually
sank into complete neglect and oblivion. Meanwhile
the Arabs preserved not only the correct, but also the
erroneous, teaching of the Greeks in the matter of geo-
graphy. Above all, they held with pedantic obstinacy
to the views of Ptolemy as to an enclosed Indian
Ocean, even though they took its southern boundary
to be merely an unknown country. Moreover, they
made the almost unpardonable mistake of representing
the African coast from Cape Gardafui onwards as
stretching away to the east, so that the Sofala coast
on their charts lay opposite to the island of Ceylon, and
Madagascar even in the neighbourhood of the Sunda
Isles. This dogmatism was all the more indefensible
because the Arab sailors were perfectly well acquainted
with the actual facts. Moreover, eminent geographers,
whose own travels extended to the East African coast
—for instance, the renowned Mas’udi (died 956)—em-
phatically declared that the direction of the coast as

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 9

maintained by learned men was found by sailors to be
entirely false. Nevertheless, the ancient opinion held
its ground, and would have lived on much longer but
for the general spread of knowledge in the west, based
on the accounts brought back from voyages of enter-
prise and by numerous missionaries. The Italians first,
and after them the Portuguese, navigated the west coast
of Africa, and were enabled by the help of the compass
to make more accurate outlines of the coast. As early as
the end of the thirteenth century, two Genoese vessels set
off with the object of discovering the passage to the
Indies round Africa, though they never returned home.
Thus the belief in the great Ptolemaic southern boundary
had been entirely given up by navigators, indeed, an
imaginary outline of Africa which came very near the
truth was actually drawn. But geographers and carto-
graphers found it impossible to entirely give up the old
delineations ; the German navigator, Martin Behaim,
even after the discovery of the southern extremity of
Africa in 1487 by Bartholomew Diaz, distorted the out-
lines on his celebrated globe in the year 1492. He gave
the coast a markedly eastern direction, and by means of
a huge repetition of the island of Zanzibar in addition
to Madagascar brought the meridian out to that of the
mouth of the Ganges.

One might suppose that the complete circumnaviga-
tion of Africa by Vasco da Gama would have proved the
non-existence of the fabulous great southern land, and
driven the idea from the minds and charts of contem-
poraries. On the contrary, however, the great Austral
country reappeared after a few decades, more fantastic
and extensive than ever. Of course, it did not correspond
to the reports of seamen, but depended on the arbitrary
exposition of isolated facts and observations by means
of geography and cartography. Land, perhaps even
only ice, was linked and set down together to form

10 THE ANTARCTIC.

the great “Terra Australis incognita or ‘nondum
cognita ”’.

In the year 1500 an accidental and totally unexpected
extension of the knowledge of geography took place. On
a voyage to the East Indies the Portuguese admiral,
Pedralvarez Cabral, took a westerly course, in order to
avoid the calms in the equatorial zones in rounding the
Cape of Good Hope. Thus the coast of Brazil was
discovered. He took it to be an island, gave it the
name of Ilha da Vera Cruz, and sent back one of. his
vessels to Lisbon with the news of his discovery. A
flotilla was immediately equipped, and it set out in the
following year to explore the coasts of the newly-found
iand. Under whose command this expedition was placed
is unknown, but Amerigo Vespucci took part in it, prob-
ably as pilot. The letters of this famous Florentine to
Pier Francesco di Medici are the only source extant for
any information about this voyage. The survey of the
coast line of Brazil itself, for which the name Terra
Americi or America was proposed by the German geo-
grapher, Hylacomylus, in 1507, is of no interest here.
Our interest centres in the land subsequently sighted,
since this was possibly the very first discovery made in the
regions defined above as Antarctic. Vespucci relates,
not without ample reference to his own deserts, how the
coast of Brazil was explored and named, from Cape
St. Roque to the Bay of Cananea. There, for some
unexplained reason, the further exploration of the coast
was abandoned on the frontiers of the modern states of
St. Paulo and Parana, and the expedition sailed into the
open sea on the 13th (or—the accounts vary—the 15th)
of February in a south-easterly direction. On the 3rd
of April Vespucci reckoned that they had made 500
nautical miles (leghe in the old Italian accounts), equiva-
Jent in round numbers to 1800 modern nautical miles.
Four days later, on the 7th of April, new land, inacces-

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. LI

sible by reason of the cliffs, was sighted. ‘‘ There were
no inhabitants, doubtless by reason of the cold, against
which all precautions are unavailing. We approached
the coast and sailed twenty miles along it.” The highest
southern latitude reached was 52° or 50’—the readings in
the editions of Vespucci’s account differ.

The statements of the Florentine navigator have
raised suspicion, if not doubt and uncertainty, since the
history of discovery has been subjected to modern criti-
cism. His testimony appeared untrustworthy, especially
as he was supposed—probably unjustly—to wish to give
his own name to the new continent. At length search
was made for a country that he might perhaps after all
have discovered; but in vain. In the direction indicated,
viz., S.E. of Cananea, there is no land whatever, so that
the conclusion was arrived at that the whole voyage
to high southern latitudes was an invention. Such a
possibility is, however, not to be accepted, since there
must have been persons enough among the members
of the expedition—it consisted of three vessels—to have
refuted the statements of the pilot. Neither is the sup-
position tenable that an error was made in giving S.E.
as the direction instead of S.W., for the coast of Brazil
stretches due south 250 miles from Cananea. The state-
ments of Vespucci must therefore be accepted as correct,
and fitted as nearly as possible to actual circumstances.
Various conjectures, based on the latitude given, have
been made as to the inhospitable coast seen by the
Portuguese. The coast of Eastern Patagonia (A. v.
Humboldt), the Falkland Isles—-whose latitude and
appearance fall in with the description—and finally the
island of South Georgia (Varnhagen) have been sug-
gested. The last seems worthy of acceptance. The
objection to the Falkland Isles is the direction of the
course given. The vessels, certainly, after leaving the
Bay of Cananea, must have entered the region of the

12 THE ANTARCTIC.

Brazilian ocean-current, which here sets in to the
S.S.W., but this would later on have carried them
S.E. and E., especially in the eastern part, into which
the Portuguese immediately steered. The Falkland
Isles, on the other hand, are washed by the Falkland
Island current with a direction of N. or N.N.E., which
would also have carried the ships to the E. rather than
to the W. Still less does Vespucci’s short description
serve for the east coast of Patagonia. The coast line
certainly extends from Cape Tres Puntas to Hilly Point
almost due north and south, and belongs to the peninsula
to the south of the Gulf of San Iago. This line, however,
reaches only a south latitude of 46° to 48°, therefore
considerably to the north of the latitude indicated by
Vespucci. Moreover, the course thither lies still farther
to the S.W., and farther within the Falkland current
than the Falkland Isles themselves.

If we regard the island of South Georgia as the
land discovered by Vespucci or the Portuguese ex-
pedition, the larger number of data seem fairly to agree.
In the first. place the Portuguese: steered toythe subs
from Cananea; of course they naturally fell in with the
Brazil-current, which must have given such poor sailing
vessels an appreciable southerly direction. But this
might farther on be equalised, for the Brazil-current
sweeps round to the east in the neighbourhood of 40°
5) latitude. Ifthe: ships sailed on to ithe) S 2 agtiey
would enter the region of the westward drift-current
also tending east, and if the southerly course was
continued they might easily reach the neighbourhood of
South Georgia. The distance was estimated by Ves-
pucci on the 3rd of April to be 500 leghe or 2050 miles,
but, as before stated, land was not sighted till four days
later, so that an additional and probably not inconsider-
able distance must be allowed for. The exact distance
of the Bay of Cananea from the north coast of South

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 15

Georgia is about 1760 nautical miles. If the round-
about course taken in consequence of the currents by
the Portuguese ships is kept in mind, the statement
neither of the distance nor of the direction would offer any
serious difficulty. It is less easy to reconcile Vespucci’s
latitude with the latitude of South Georgia, which is
54 and 55'S. But even this is no insuperable obstacle,
as Peschel points out that errors of three degrees of
latitude on the high seas are by no means unusual in
the reckonings of the first half of the sixteenth century.
If such errors are made under the clear skies of
the trade winds, they should cause no surprise if made
on the stormy South Atlantic Ocean with its gloomy
and misty weather. Indeed, it does not even appear
that Vespucci’s reckoning of 52° S. on the 3rd of April
was intended to be applied to the land then lying farther
south. Finally, the description of the coast of the
country discovered points to the possibility that it was
that of South Georgia. Vespucci says they sailed twenty
leghe (eighty miles) along the coast, and the north coast
between its two northernmost points, Cape Buller and
Cape Charlotte, is of just this extent in South Georgia.
A. v. Humboldt, who was warmly interested in this
discovery by the Portuguese, and was of opinion that
East Patagonia was indicated, found a difficulty in the
statement that the ships sailed twenty leghe (eighty
miles) along the coast. His explanation leaves the dis-
crepancy untouched, but it entirely disappears when
applied to South Georgia.

Another circumstance supports the case for the
island—the mention of the severe cold, which seemed to
exclude the idea that it was inhabited. This could not
have been stated of the coast of East Patagonia even in
the winter of the southern hemisphere (April corresponding
to November with us). According to modern observa-
tions the mean temperature in the coldest month is about

14 LAE ANTARCTIC.

41 F. Even the Falkland Islands have a mean temper-
ature of 50° F. in April, while in South Georgia, the
German Royal Bay station ascertained in 1881-2 that
the mean, including twenty-three frosty days, fell no
lower than 33° F. One remarkable fact Vespucci did
not record, namely the snow-covering, for South
Georgia is thickly covered with snow on the loftier
heights, even in the summer. But this omission becomes
less important if the times and their theories be taken
into account. Of districts and regions lying beyond 50°
N. only middle and western Europe were personally
known to the great explorers who came from the countries
surrounding the Mediterranean. To these the con-
nection between winter and snow-covering would seem
so ordinary as not to cali for mention, and would be
equally applied to the southern hemisphere. Moreover,
Vespucci added to his account the remark: “It was
winter in those regions,” and he may have taken for
granted that all was thereby included, and that there was
no need to say more on the subject to his learned friend.

Probably the account of this voyage of discovery will
never be quite clear, unless indeed further details were
found in the Portuguese archives. However much it
may be doubted whether the Portuguese squadron
actually discovered South Georgia, the possibility still
remains that even at so early a date the first real dis-
covery of Antarctic country did take place. It certainly
had neither direct nor indirect consequences, for it fell
entirely into the background in view o1 the unexpected
extent and extension of the Ilha da Vera Cruz, in other
words, of the Brazils. For it was this very country that
was described. by Vespucci, in his accounts, as a ‘“‘ New
World,” while the discoveries of Columbus were still
regarded as portions of the far east coast of the Old
World, or its outlying islands. These accounts therefore
secured to Vespucci the unmerited fame of being the

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 15

discoverer of the New World, and gave first to Brazil
and subsequently to the whole continent the name of
Werra, Americtyor America..: Still it is by no means
certain that the southern and insignificant discovery made
by the Portuguese vessels did not secretly revive and
perpetuate the myth of the great southern continent
bounding the oceans and covering in the South Pole.

THE NEW 7ZERRA AUSTRALIS AND THE PROOF OF ITS
NON-EXISTENCE.

Very soon after the exploration of the Brazilian
coasts, several expeditions were made there, although
the country had not the attraction of either gold or
spices to offer. And these voyages seem to have been
undertaken without the authority and probably without
even the knowledge of the Portuguese Government.
They are mentioned here simply because they revived
the idea of the Ptolemaic Austral country, though now
no longer supposed to be connected with either Asia
or Africa, and projected farther across still unknown
seas. At length a French vessel from Honfleur in Nor-
mandy, under the command of the Sieur Binot Paulmier
de Gonneville, reached Brazil in 1504, though it cannot
be ascertained at what point he landed. Gonneville, who
brought back a young native on his return voyage, speaks
in his account of the discovery of hitherto unknown
“southern lands,” and thus in the course of time these
were sought to the south of the Cape of Good Hope
instead of in Brazil. Somewhat later, about the years
1508-9, a widespread publication, obviously a_ trans-
lation from the Portuguese, appeared in Italy and Ger-
many, called Copza der Newen Zeytung aus Pressileland.
This gave an account of the voyage of two Portuguese
ships to the Brazilian coast. They were stated to have
reached a latitude of 40° S., and to have found straits on

16 THE ANTARCTIC.

the west. The importance of this account as a prelude
to the discovery of the Straits of Magellan! cannot here
be dwelt upon. It was, however, important as the
starting-point for a representation of the Zerra australis
mmcognita, according to the imagination of the Niiremberg

Terra australis (after Schoner’s globe of 1533).

geographer and astronomer, Johannes Schoner. In 1515
he constructed a globe on which the South American
continent, or according to his own designation, America,
really comes to an end in latitude 4o° to 41° S.. Thence

1 More accurately ‘‘ Magalhaes”.

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. Wi

the coast diverges to the west and subsequently runs north.
Separated from this southern extremity by a narrow
strait lies a country designated as Brasilie regio, stretch-
ing far to the east and to the west, the coasts retiring in
higher southern latitudes. The outlines of this purely
hypothetical country were fantastic enough, and must
have seemed still more so after Magellan’s remarkable
voyage had verified the existence of a passage to the
west, though it was found to be to’ farther south than
was indicated by the Mewen Zeytung. Tierra del Fuego,
on the south of the Straits of Magellan, was evidently
part of the Zerra australis, and its coasts were therefore
prolonged by Schéner without any hesitation, so that
they encircled the globe on the south. His learned
successors improved on his drawings by adding greater
variety to the coast line of the imaginary country. In
many representations of the South Atlantic Ocean, a pen-
insula of the great Austral continent is indicated to the
south-east of the Brazilian continent, between 50° and
60° S., with a coast running from west to east. This may
be a mere coincidence, but it does not exclude the possi-
bility of Vespucci’s discovery on his third voyage having
provided data for part of the coast of the otherwise
imaginary country.

From this time forward the names of places in or
near America were removed to a greater distance. On
schoners Globe, for example, of the year 1533, the
name SLrasilie regio already embellishes the great
southern country to the south of Madagascar. <A
later designer, Oronce Finé, had moreover the audacity
to give the country the inscription: Zerra australis
nuper tnventa sed non plene examinata (the lately dis-
covered, but not completely explored southern land).
A German geographer, one of the most celebrated of all,
Gerhard Mercator, in the beginning of the second half of

the sixteenth century drew the coasts of this immense
2

18 THE ANTARE PIC.

continent with great precision, adding deep indentations as
gulfs as well as outlying islands and ranges of cliffs. Here,
too, is to be found what may again be merely a coinci-
dence, a projecting coast in almost exactly the latitude
and longitude of South Georgia, bounded by a deeply
indented bay on the west, the Golfo de San Sebastiano.

The method of representing Tierra del Fuego as
a peninsula of the southern continent is all the more
surprising since from an early date it had been conjec-
tured that it was an island. Four years after the return
of the only ship saved from the fleet of the first great
circumnavigator, Magellan, the second Spanish expedition,
under the command of Garcia Jofre de Loayasa, passed
through the Straits of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean
in 1526. On entering the straits one of the vessels, the
San Lesmes, commanded by Francisco de Hoces, was
separated and driven south in a storm. It thus reached
the Le Maire Straits, re-discovered ninety years later,
separating Tierra del Fuego from Staten Island.’ Al-
though the explorers concluded that they had reached
the extremity of the continent, they nevertheless made
their way back without following up their discovery.
Thus, this important discovery was for the time disre-
garded, and rendered no service either to navigation
or to cartography.

A similar fate or worse befell Francis Drake, the
first discoverer of Cape Horn,’ and therefore of the
southern extremity of the great western double continent.
Instead of erasing from the map the southern continent
presumably extending to the Straits of Magellan, the
distorted account of Drake’s voyage tended to confirm
the error. There is a good account of Drake’s voyage
extant from the pen of his ship’s chaplain, Fletcher.
From the first simple statements made by him it is

1 More accurately Staaten Island.
2 More accurately Cape Hoorn.

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 19

evident that Drake was not the first, as has been er-
roneously supposed, to cross the Antarctic circle. Drake
left Plymouth with a fleet of five ships in 1577. In the
following year he was from the 20th of August to the
6th of September in the Straits of Magellan. After
sailing through and continuing a considerable distance
to the north-west, his own ship was driven back by a
violent storm to the W.S.W. until he found himself in
latitude 57° S., and about 200 leagues from the opening
to the straits. He again sailed to the east and came
upon the islands belonging to the Tierra del Fuego
region in latitude 55° S., where he rested for a few days.
Compelled by a renewal of the storm he took refuge
among the islands. Fletcher relates in 7he World
Encompassed: ‘“‘He came finally to the uttermost part of
the land towards the South Pole, the extreme cape or
cliff lying nearly under 56° S., beyond which neither
continent nor island was to be seen; indeed the Atlantic
and the Pacific Oceans here unite in the free and uncon-
fined open”. Fletcher tells of the intercourse with the
natives of the island, dwellers in barks, describing the
typical Tierra del Fuegan. In short, his description
gives so clear and unmistakable a picture of the southern
extremity of South America, that it seems an absolute
marvel that Drake’s discovery should have been entirely
misunderstood for centuries. And what indeed was not
made of it! A year before the account of his travels
was published in the original English edition with the
title The Famous Voyage of Sir Francis Drake (1599),
a translation, or rather an adaptation of it, appeared in
the compilation of Theodore de Bry. This writer
turns the above-mentioned 200 leagues of longitude in
the distance from the opening into the straits into
200 leagues of latitude in a southerly direction; the
word “leagues” also was supposed by the translator
to mean miles, which he identified with German or

20 THE ANTARCTIC.

geographical miles. On this calculation there was
therefore a difference of 134° in the latitude, so that De
Bry actually conveyed Drake to the Antarctic circle.
To make the high latitude vivid to his readers, he inter-
polates a statement which is entirely a fabrication, and
says that Drake observed that the night was of only two
hours’ duration, so that at the time of the December
solstice the sun would remain above the horizon the
whole twenty-four hours. This inference is manifestly
based on the mistaken calculation of the latitude. Later
translations and adaptations of De Bry’s work only made
matters worse, since they represented Drake as getting
the information as to the length of the day from the
natives, so that inhabitants were introduced into the
countries in those high latitudes.

Such suggestions found a ready welcome among
theorising cartographers, and the land discovered by
Drake was forthwith removed to latitude 66° to 67° S. as
part of the coast of the great southern continent, regard-
less of the objections raised by experienced mariners like
Hawkins, or critical geographers like Cliiver. Hawkins
had been told by Drake that the passage round the
southern extremity of the land was shorter than through
the Straits of Magellan, and this was verified in 1580 by
a Spanish vessel belonging to Sarmiento’s squadron.
Strangely enough, Mercator in his map of the world
had in 1569 entered a deep bay in the latitude given
above, placing it on the coast of his imaginary continent,
to which he apparently gave increased precision by the
addition of outlying cliffs and islands.

Scarcely twenty years later the champions of the
connection between Tierra del Fuego and the southern
continent seemed justified in their contention that Drake
had discovered land in a high southern latitude. A vessel
that had come through the Straits of Magellan was in the
same way driven south and found land. In the year

21

Tey

=
1
or

HISTORY OF DISCOV E

"(1LS1 ‘wnavaaay sig4o mnAdVeyT) SNIP rae ‘s2pvagsnv DAAIT,

e Sere ate i = =X y Zoe

RAITAOW.T,

‘INWOITAVO

CT

22 THE ANTARCTIC.

1599, at a time when the Dutch, acting on the offensive,
began to attack and injure Spain in her colonies, a Dutch
squadron of five sail, under the command of Jacob Mahn
and Simon de Cordes, left Holland to attack the Spanish
possessions on the Pacific. They were overtaken by the
same fate as Drake, for on passing out of the Straits of
Magellan on the west side they were dispersed by a
violent storm on the 15th of September. One of the
vessels, the yacht De Blyde Loodschap, under the
command of Dirk (Theodoric) Gerritz, was driven as
far as 64° S., where Gerritz sighted land. It was covered
with lofty, snow-clad mountains which he compared to
those of Norway. Without following up his discovery
Gerritz again took a northern course to the coast of
Chili, but missed the rendezvous of the squadron and
was made captive by the Spaniards. In a letter to
Olivier van Noort, the commander of a second Dutch
squadron, he communicated his discovery, concerning
which nothing more was heard. It has elsewhere been
shown that although many circumstances seem to tell
against the attaining of such a high latitude, there is no
reason whatever to doubt Gerritz’ veracity. It might
be opposed on the ground that at the beginning of
summer in the southern hemisphere the land is blocked
by ice in latitude 64° to the south of Tierra del Fuego,
that is to say, the western isles of the South Shetland
Archipelago or Palmer Land. But as Gerritz came in
sight of land in the second, third, or even the fourth
quarter of September, for he reckoned by the old Julian
calendar, the date of his discovery would doubtless be
between the beginning and the middle of October. Now
W. Smith, the second discoverer of the Gerritz Archi-
pelago—as it has now been called—found it possible to
approach the South Shetland Islands at that time of
year, in 1819, without being at all inconvenienced by the
ice. The advance in both cases seems to have been

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 23

greatly assisted by favourable ice years. The land dis-
covered by Gerritz was long inscribed as such on the
maps, and was also transferred to the great southern
continent until after Cook’s voyages, when it as errone-
ously dropped from the maps altogether.

The subsequent use to which the Dutch account was.
put is seen in a later rendering of Gerritz’ report. There
the absurd statement is added that the land sighted
seemed to stretch away to the Solomon Isles, which had
been discovered to the south-east of New Guinea by
Mendana in 1567, and were then lost to the world till
1708. It is impossible to decide when this interpolation
first found its way into the account of Gerritz. It
seems almost as if Mercator’s map of the world of the
year 1569 were responsible for it. The repeatedly
mentioned coast of his southern land is here drawn as
running from the western outlet of the Straits of Magellan
to about latitude 66° S.and longitude g2° W. (he reckons
from the meridian of the island of Corvo), and from here to
latitude 19° S. and longitude 170° W. in almost a straight
line, to a hypothetical region corresponding to Torres
Straits between New Guinea and Australia (of course
before the discovery of the straits by Torres). It is
remarkable that Mercator, while indicating by a dotted
line that the outline is hypothetical, gives a continuous.
line between 45° and 35° S., apparently fixing a coast
that had been sighted. This might lead one to think
of the first discovery of New Zealand, which perhaps.
fell to the lot of the Spaniard, Juan Fernandez (after
1563), who certainly discovered the island now bearing
his name, the original of Robinson Crusoe’s island. The
news of a large inhabited country in southern waters would
naturally tend to confirm the fixed tradition of a southern
continent.

Two Dutchmen, Schouten and Le Maire, achieved
what Drake, though he had rounded the cape subse-

24. TE AN TAR CLIC,

quently named Cape Hoorn, had failed to do thirty-eight
years before, vzz., the separation on the maps and in
contemporary geography books of Tierra del Fuego
from the great southern continent. It was not a pure
zeal for discovery that prompted these two to find a
passage south of the Straits of Magellan. They were
intent on evading the monopoly of the Dutch East India
Company, which gave the sole right of passage through
the Straits of Magellan to Dutch merchantmen. On
the 25th of January, 1616, they sailed through the
straits named after Le Maire, the east coast of which
was called Staaten Island, in honour of the States-
General of Holland. The south coast of Tierra del
Fuego was examined, together with the small outlying
islands, which received names. The southern extremity
was called Cape Hoorn in honour of Schouten’s native
town.

Nevertheless, even this voyage was powerless to
entirely remove the southern continent of the maps from
the waters in the region of Tierra del Fuego. When the
greatest navigator of the seventeenth century, Abel
Tasman, on his memorable voyage in search of the
southern continent took an uninterrupted easterly course
in latitude 45 to 49 S. after leaving the island of Mauritius,
he unexpectedly came upon a mountainous country, on the
13th of December, 1642. This was the southern island
of New Zealand (he had discovered the south coast of
Van Diemen’s Land, now called Tasmania, a few weeks
before), to which the name Staaten Land was applied, on
the assumption that it was connected on the east with
the Straits of Le Maire. It was a mere chance that a
few months later, in March, 1643, a Dutchman of the
name of Brouwer found how small the extent of the
South American Staaten Island actually was, and thus
at last freed South America from all close connection
with the mythical Zerra austrats.

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 25

But though it had thus vanished from the south-
western Atlantic, from the Indian, and the western Pacific,
or at least had been proved non-existent as far south
as the fiftieth degree of latitude, the imagination of geo-
' graphers still clung to the higher southern latitudes and to
the possibilities of the vast region of the south-eastern
Pacific, south of New Zealand, which was itself regarded
as a portion of the great southern continent. Tasman’s
circumnavigation of New Holland (as Australia was first
called), though at a great distance from land, had proved
that this also was certainly not joined to the 7erra australis
of the maps and globes. In one respect important practical
and theoretical results followed from the clear apprehension
that South America was free, so to speak, at its southern
extremity. This was the increase and spread of geo-
graphical knowledge in connection with the waters to
the east and west of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia.
Up to this time vessels outward bound to the Pacific had
been compelled to encounter the Falkland current sweep-
ing north as they neared the Patagonian coast. When
at last the dangerous passage through the Straits of
Magellan lay before them, half the ships, as we are told
by Peschel, turned back, and now there was the possi-
bility of sailing round at a greater distance from the
rocky shore of South America. Jacob I’Hermite as
early as 1624, when commander of the so-called Nassau
fleet, made the correct observation that on the voyage
out from Europe the difficulty of rounding Cape Hoorn
could be considerably diminished by going into a higher
southern latitude. Farther south, east and south-east
winds prevail, while in the neighbourhood of the Cape,
west and north-west winds blow constantly and with great
violence. L’Hermite himself had reached a latitude of
61 S., and could therefore speak from experience.

The immediate consequence of the greater facility in
reaching the South Sea—as the Pacific was still almost

THE ANTARCTIC.

Terra australis, after Mercator (Atlas minor, ex-officina Joannis Janssonii, 1648).

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. eat |

exclusively called—was the great increase in the number
of voyages made in it. The Dutch, English and French
more especially showed increased activity and enterprise,
and reached remarkably high latitudes. Not only did
vessels press forward to the south, but also to the east,
and one of these voyages brought about the discovery of
South Georgia—or its re-discovery, if the Portuguese had
really sighted the island on Vespucci’s third voyage. In
April, 1675, it happened that a mercantile expedition
under Antonio de la Roché, consisting of two vessels
from Hamburg, though not sailing under the Hamburg
flag, was driven past the entrance to the Le Maire
Straits, while homeward bound, by a violent storm and
resistless current from the west. After several days’
course towards the east an unknown snow-covered land
arose before the eyes of the astonished travellers, and
finding safe moorings they lay at anchor in a bay there.
The storm kept them here for a fortnight ; then the
weather cleared, and another snow-clad country revealed
itself to the south-east, separated from their anchorage
by short straits about thirty nautical miles across.
Through this the vessels sailed without paying any
further attention to their discovery. The latitude is
given at 55 S., while nothing can be made of the longi-
tude. It was apparently merely a conjecture calculated
with reference to Cape Hoorn, and La Roché’s ships’
reckoning had become confused owing to storm and
the course of the current. For this reason it has been
considered doubtful what the country discovered really
was. The Falkland Isles and Beauchéne Island have
been suggested, but surely incorrectly. The one corres-
ponds neither as regards the latitude nor the covering of
snow-—indeed icebergs are mentioned in the account—
while the other is merely an isolated rock thirty-seven
miles to the south of East Falkland. Per contra La
Roche's description applies fairly well to the western end

28 THE ANTARCTIC.

of South Georgia and Willis Island lying outside. The
only discrepancy is the breadth of the strait between the
two—a matter of only six or seven nautical miles. The
northernmost of the South Sandwich Islands might occur
to one, although the description applies far better to
South Georgia. The error in the latitude would be
equally great in either case, as the north-western end of
South Georgia and Willis Island are situated in latitude
54° S., and the most northern of the South Sandwich
Isles in latitude 562° S.

For sixty-two years this remained the latest discovery
in Antarctic regions, while latitude 60° S. was now
more frequently crossed, and the first accounts occur of
meeting with floating ice in southern waters. It seems
strange that there are no earlier references to it, for the
region of floating ice was entered in rounding Cape
Hoorn. It is an equally strange fact that icebergs do
not seem to have been mentioned by earlier travellers,
not even by Abel Tasman. Many noteworthy voyages
were made by daring pirates, who, under the name of
buccaneers and filibusters, attacked the Spanish-American
possessions, both on the Atlantic and South Sea coasts.
Thus Bartholomew Sharp in 1681 reached 60° S. after
previously encountering icebergs, likewise the é/c¢e of
buccaneer society—at least those of English origin—
when John Cook led William Dampier, Edward Davis,
Lionel Wafer, Ambrose Cowley and others with the ship
Revenge, west of Cape Hoorn, as far as 60° 31 S. on
the way to the Pacific provinces of south Spain. Part
of the company returned under Edward Davis after it
was broken up, and after he had discovered Easter Island
he reached a latitude of 62° 45 S. in the Atlantic, on
which occasion a large number of icebergs was observed.
Easter Island naturally offered the cartographers a wel-
come opportunity for again laying down a portion of
the great southern continent, and it figured on the maps,

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY, 29

with considerable extensions, as Davis Land. This error
continued even after the Dutch discoverer, Jacob Rogge-
ween, in 1722, had verified that it was quite a small island,
as can be proved from Homann’s charts of the middle
of the eighteenth century.

Latitudes similar to those of Davis were reached in
1700 by Woodes Roggers, v2z., 61° 53’ S., and Le Gentil
de la Barbinais in 1716, as well as George Shelvoke in
1719, both of whom reached 61° 30’ S. Roggeween, as
before mentioned, attained a latitude of 62° 30 S.
in 1722, and, it is even stated that one of his vessels,
the 7hzenhoven, penetrated to 64° 58 S._ If correct,
this is the highest before Cook, since Dirk Gerritz
gives only 64° as his southernmost point. But it is
possible that an error has crept in with respect to the
southernmost point reached by the 7%zexhoven.

The year 1738 is memorable in the annals of Ant-
arctic voyages of discovery, as it in a certain sense gave
the impulse to the second great voyage of James Cook,
and laid to rest once for all the belief in a southern
continent lying within the temperate zone. It was a
peculiar circumstance that the French Compagnie des
Indes should have sent out an expedition to the in-
habitants of the southern lands, and although it reached
only comparatively low latitudes, it has a distinct claim
to be regarded as the first real South Polar Expedition.
It will be remembered that soon after the Portuguese
discovery of Brazil, French vessels made their way
there, and that the voyage of De Gonneville was re-
corded. On the return of this expedition, a young
native, son of a chief, had been brought to France
under promise to be brought back again. In con-
sequence of adverse circumstances the young Indian
never was sent back, but learnt French, was converted
to the Christian faith, and married a lady of noble
family. After nearly two hundred years, it occurred to

30 THE ANTARCTIC,

one of his descendants to raise a claim to the territory of
his ancestor in the southern lands from whence he came,
and in this way fresh interest was roused in the nearly
forgotten voyage of De Gonneville. It was not known
that that southern territory was merely a part of Brazil ;
on the contrary, it was sought in the unexplored waters
of the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In the firm
conviction that fertile and populous countries would here
be discovered, the company fifty years later determined
to send out an exploring expedition consisting of two
ships.

These were placed under the command of Lozier
Bouvet who led the ship L’Azgle, while the J/arte was
commanded by Captain Hay. They left the harbour of
L’Ortent on i7th July, 1738, sought out St. Catharina
in Brazil, and then steered to the south-east like the
Portuguese squadron on the occasion of Vespucci’s third
voyage. As Bouvet on meridian 17° 40’ W. approached
latitude 44° S. he was very eager to find the land indi-
cated on the maps as Jerre de vue or Cafe des terres
australes ; but nothing presented itself. Later, he came
to the conclusion that it must be either a small island
which had remained concealed from him by mists, and
which had been regarded as extended land by older
navigators, or—-what was doubtless correct—icebergs.
With these he became better acquainted on the 15th of
December in the latitude corresponding to that of Paris
in the northern hemisphere, vzz., 49° S., in the shape of
three great ice-islands, of which the largest, according to
his reckoning, had a circumference of upwards of seven
to ten miles, and a height of upwards of 1200 feet,
estimates which betray his inexperience in ice-navigation.
The immense extent of these gigantic masses of ice at
first misled Bouvet joyfully to anticipate the neighbour-
hood of land. The dogma of the glorious lands of the
southern seas was so firmly rooted in the imagination of

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 31

that time that Bouvet was of opinion that the height of
the icebergs, the origin of which so long remained
enigmatical, was a proof of the altitude of the country ‘‘ in
which they came into existence, and highlands are always
considered the healthiest ”.

On penetrating farther towards the south, the ships
were however so closely hemmed in by pack-ice and
floating ice that they were obliged to seek an outlet to
the east. After sailing in this direction and to the south-
east for several days, an apparently high and snow-
covered land was seen by both ships to the north-east
on Ist January, 1739. According to Bouvet’s reckoning
they were then in latitude 54° 20’ S. and longitude 4°
E., and the land seemed to be in about latitude 54° S.
and longitude 4° 20° E. Following the devout custom
of naming new discoveries according to the church
calendar, it was called Cafe de la Circoncision. The
extent of land was certainly small, and the coast inac-
cessible on account of the pack-ice by which it was
blockaded. Even after a delay of twelve days, the ships
were unable to approach it near enough to effect a
landing. On one clear day it was seen that the country
was much more level to the south-east, and that in parts
free from snow it was covered with forest or underwood.
This delusive appearance—as in the Falkland Isles—
is caused by the tussock grass, Poa flabellata, which
gives an impression in the distance of being shrubs and
bushes. In spite of the country appearing well-wooded,
Bouvet did not consider it suitable for settlers, and it
did not occur to him that it was only a small island. On
the contrary, he was convinced that he had discovered
a promontory of the great southern land, and retained
the hope of finding Gonneville’s coast farther away to
the east. Therefore he sailed 1500 miles to the east, in
a latitude of 57° S. approximately, constantly surrounded
by ice, and without finding anything, and then took an

32 THE ANTARCTIC.

equally fruitless course north in order to escape into open
water. Now, however disappointing this voyage proved
in general, and however futile in regard of its principal
object, it must be conceded to brave Captain Bouvet
that he was the first to sail a considerable distance east—
8°-10 —south of the course of the great navigator, Tas-
man, and therefore he has a claim to be regarded as the
pioneer of Antarctic exploration.

Bouvet’s discovery was fated to bring important results
in its train as far as both the French and the English
were concerned, in spite of the repelling aspect of the
newly discovered country and of the seas surrounding it.
These results, however, waited silently in the background
for thirty years, and in the middle of that period (1756) the
island of South Georgia was discovered for the second or
the third time, in the middle of winter, on the 29th of June.
This time the discovery was made by a Spanish merchant
vessel, the Zeon, which sailed completely round the island
in the south, and named it after the saint’s day, “Isla de
San Pedro:

The discovery, however, was not immediately followed
“up, although it became known through the French ac-
count published by Ducloz Guyot, who was on board the
Leon at the time. This account was incorporated in the
writings and compilations of the eminent English tra-
veller and geographer, Alexander Dalrymple, in a work
published in 1770 on the subject of oceanic travels and
discoveries. As it came out before Cook’s return from
his first famous voyage, he was probably acquainted
with this last discovery of South Georgia.

After a brief lull in the progress of Antarctic dis-
covery, a new period of activity set in during the seventies
of last century. The times had greatly changed, natural
science especially had received a new impetus, and a
desire had become manifest to deepen as well as to
widen our then knowledge of the earth as a whole. A

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 33

perfectly new departure was for the first time made in
equipping and sending out expeditions, not as on
previous occasions by states and trading companies with
the object of material commercial profit, but great under-
takings for the furtherance of science, accompanied
by a staff of learned men. The tasks now set were to
determine the distribution of land and water in the less-
known regions of the globe, to investigate all new natural
phenomena, and especially to widen the knowledge of
the sciences of modern times, namely biology, ethno-
graphy and sociology. Something like a division of
labour was made between the English and French,
whose Governments alone sent out numerous expeditions ;
the English devoting their attention principally to the
surface of our earth and to new geographical discovery,
the French to the scientific investigation of new pheno-
mena. Meantime the French never relinquished the
thought of discovering the great southern continent, so
that we meet French vessels seeking Gonneville’s country
in the Pacific and Indian Oceans at the very time that the
English Government fitted out its first great scientific
expedition. There were pre-eminently two French under-
takings by Marion and Kerguelen, otherwise unimportant,
that set out for southern waters in the year 1771, and
both had the good fortune to find land there.

Marion du Frezne, who originally was commissioned
to take back to his home a young native of Tahiti
brought to France by Bougainville, was first of all to
visit Bouvet’s Cape Circoncision and then New Zealand.
He left Cape Town on the 20th of December, 1771, and
steered his course south. But he was unsuccessful in
finding either the apocryphal islands of Dina and Mars-
ween, or Cape Circoncision. As compensation he
discovered a new island on the 13th of January, .772,
which seemed to him also to be a portion of the great

Austral country. From this circumstance he named it
3

34 THE ANTARCTIC,

Terre d’Espérance. Ten days later he came upon an
island group in the same latitude, 463° S., of which the
one on which he landed was named Isle de la Prise de
Possession. The islands were certainly covered with
snow at midsummer, and a great iceberg was seen : never-
theless Crozet, the commander of Marion’s consort,
concluded that it must be near a graminiferous country
from his seeing a pigeon on the wing! Marion spent no
time in exploring the islands or the country conjectured
to be beyond, but shaped his course for Tasmania (then
Van Diemen’s Land) and New Zealand. Here he was
killed by a native in revenge for the ineptitude of
Surville, who had visited the coast almost at the same
time as Cook three years before. The command of both
ships was not taken over by Crozet as is frequently
asserted, but by Duclesmeur, who brought them home.
As has already been stated, a second exploring ex-
pedition left France in 1771, under the command of Yves
Joseph de Kerguelen-Tremarec. He was under orders
to start from the Isle de France (now again Mauritius),
and to steer towards the southern continent in latitude
45° S., and about the meridian of the islands of St. Paul
and Amsterdam, to find a suitable harbour, and thor-
oughly to study the products of the country, its inhabi-
tants, and their social condition. A member of the Paris
Academy, the astronomer Rochon, was appointed to
assist in setting down the topographical details. On the
16th of January, 1772, therefore, Kerguelen left the Isle
de France, and a month later, on the 13th of February,
he discovered, in latitude 50° S., land that, according
to his conjecture, certainty formed a part of the great
southern continent. A closer examination was not
undertaken, as the weather was bad and the country
entirely uninhabited. Kerguelen’s opinion about the
connection with the southern continent was shared by
Paris generally, and the discovery was held to be of such

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY.

great importance that a new expedition was determined
on, with more detailed official orders to explore the
continent. Kerguelen, in command of three vessels,
in 1773 sought the land discovered a year previously,
without, however, even ascertaining the extent of
Kerguelen Island, as it is now called. Cook had sailed
round on the south without ever coming in sight of land
in February of the same year; indeed he missed also the

Captain James Cook.

Marion and Crozet Isles, of whose discovery he had
heard in Cape Town.

James Cook was no novice in these waters. lale
was chosen commander of an expedition for the observa-
tion of a transit of Venus on the 3rd of July, 1769, after
having greatly distinguished himself by his hydrographic
charts of the St. Lawrence in Canada, and the coasts of

36 THE ANTARCTIC.

Newfoundland. Cook left England with the Exdeavour
in the summer of 1768, having three eminent scientists
on board. Passing through the Straits of Le Maire,
and round Cape Horn, he at once made for Tahiti in
order to fulfil his first and principal task. Having ac-
complished this, he undertook a voyage of discovery
to the practically unknown waters south of latitude 15°
S.,.and east of New Zealand. He first discovered
several island groups, and attained to a latitude of 4o°
22’ S. on the meridian 174° 29 E. without a trace of land
far and wide. Then he shaped his course for New
Zealand, which he completely circumnavigated, and
verified not only as an island that was disconnected
with a continent, but as really consisting of two islands.
After laying all this down with the greatest accuracy,
he turned to New Holland, laying down the east coast
and Torres Straits (the first discovery by Torres had
remained entirely unknown). Thus he gave the true
outlines of the island continent which subsequently
received the name of Austral Land, or Australia.

The remarkable results of Cook's first circumnaviga-
tion of the world determined the English Government to
send him out in charge of a second expedition, larger and
still more completely equipped. His task was to be the
solution of the problem concerning the extent of the south-
ern continent so emphatically insisted upon by the French
navigators ;. indeed, Cook’s achievement in sailing round
New Zealand had already gone far towards disproving
the extent attributed to it. He was this time placed in
command of two vessels, the Adventure under Four-
neaux’ command and the Resolution under his own. The
astronomers Wales and Bayley accompanied them, as
well as the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster
and his son George. At Cape Town the party was in-
creased by the Swede Sparrmann. Cook made for Cape
Town in the first instance, because he had determined on

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 37

this voyage to carry out the plan of sailing in the high
latitudes from west to east. The only navigator who
can be in a sense regarded as his predecessor was Abel
Tasman in the voyage which led to the discovery of
New Zealand. Cape Town, with its resources, seemed
to Cook the most favourably situated for completing the
preparations for the long voyage through unknown seas,
and here he heard the news of the latest discoveries made
by the French (Marion and Crozet). On the 22nd of
November, 1772, the ships left the Cape and took a
course almost due south. Scarcely three weeks later, on
the 1oth of December, in latitude 50° 40 S. and longi-
tude 20° E., the first ice came in sight, an iceberg with
the tabular form characteristic of the south polar waters,
and with vertical sides. The farther they penetrated
south the more numerous were the icebergs and the
more difficult the navigation, owing to the prevalence
of stormy weather and of sudden fog and mists. As
early as the 14th of December the vessels were checked in
their progress in latitude 54° 50 S. and longitude 21°
24’ E., by a vast mass of drift-ice which compelled them
to steer to the S.E. After several futile attempts they
succeeded in going round the mass of pack-ice and drift-
ice, and having reached a latitude 58° S., Cook steered to
the west, constantly surrounded by field-ice and numerous
icebergs, though the ice was not so thick as to prevent
their forcing their way along. By degrees the field-ice
disappeared, and Cook rightly conjectured that the great
ice masses which had turned him from his course had
drifted to the north, and that therefore there was no land
of any extent between his present position—latitude 60°
S. in round numbers—and the Cape. After he had
reached longitude 9° 45 E. on the 2nd of January, 1773,
he again shaped his course towards the south-east, and
soon came in sight of fresh icebergs.

On the 17th of January the south polar circle was

38 THE ANTARCTIC,

crossed in longitude 38° 14’ E., the first time this had
ever been accomplished. During this memorable time
only one iceberg was in sight, but after a few hours of
their farther progress south the ice increased to such
an extent that it became impossible to continue their
course: the whole surface of the waters as far as the
eye could reach was covered from east to west by dense
masses of ice, enclosing great icebergs. To the south-
east of the ships rose a mass of ice that Cook estimated
at sixteen or eighteen feet high, at least, perfectly flat,
equally high everywhere, and of such extent that the
end could not be seen from the top of the mast. This
gigantic mass of ice, seen in latitude 67° 17° S. and
longitude 39 35 E., is particularly interesting, since it
may have been a first sight of one of the great ice barriers
from which glaciers and inland ice in the Antarctic regions
break off in all directions into the sea. It is evident that
Cook did not understand the meaning of this enormous
mass of ice, though he seems to have conjectured that
it was of considerable importance. He determined to
give up the attempt to penetrate farther south for the
time, as the summer was already half over, and it would
have taken too much time to sail round the ice, ‘provided
always that this course had been possible, which is very
doubtful”. He therefore again turned his course to the
north-east, with the object of seeking the land discovered
by Kerguelen, but in vain; for he explored in latitude
50° S., in longitude 58° to 65° E., but without seeing
land at all. This is not to be wondered at, as the Island
of Kerguelen is certainly not situated in latitude 49° S.,
but farther east, in longitude 69 to 71° E. Cook was,
moreover, harassed by fog and stormy weather, during
which the vessels were separated from each other on
the 8th of March.

In order to turn to advantage the remainder of the
southern summer season, Cook alone made another

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 39

attempt towards the south-east, but only to find himself
again in the region of drifting icebergs on the 16th of
February, in latitude 57° 8’ S. and longitude 80° 59’ E.
As early as the 24th he had reached latitude 61° 52’ S.
and longitude 95° E., sailing among innumerable ice-
bergs, when the masses of ice made it unadvisable to
continue his course. He therefore turned to the east and
sailed continuously about latitude 60° S. as far as longitude
148° E., whence he made for New Zealand on the 17th of
March, which he reached on the 25th, hoping to complete
his previous explorations. After meeting the Adventure
there—she had arrived on the rst of March without
sighting either land or, with a single exception, icebergs
—Cook took both vessels to the Society and Friendly
Isles to give the crews a rest, returning to New Zealand
towards the end of October.

New Zealand was left on the 26th of November, and
the vessels started afresh on a voyage south. Since the
non-existence of a continent to the south of the Indian
Ocean had been proved, the regions of the southern
Pacific were to be explored in the southern summer of
1773-4. Unfortunately, Cook did not resume his search
at the point where he had ceased the year before: he did
not press forward south from the southern extremity of
Tasmania. Had he done so in favourable circumstances,
he would doubtless have lighted on the coast of Wilkes
Land. However, he crossed latitude 60° S. on the 11th
of December on the meridian 174° W., therefore 38°
of longitude distant from the meridian on which he
quitted his position in latitude 59° S. the previous March.

It is remarkable that he did not encounter an ice-
berg till he reached latitude 62° 4 S. and longitude
172° W., 114° farther south than after his first start from
the Cape of Good Hope. But the number of icebergs
rapidly increased, and gradually the drift-ice again ap-
peared, though not as yet so dense as greatly to impede

40 THE ANTARCTIC;

progress. However, on the 15th of December, in lati-
tude 65° 52’ S. and longitude 159° 20 W., the pack-ice
grew so impenetrable and the fog so dense that it be-
came necessary to retire somewhat to the north. It was
not till the 2oth of December that the Antarctic circle
was crossed for the second time on the meridian 147°
30 W. The southernmost point attained in these
regions was latitude 67° 31’ S. and longitude 142° 54
W., where thick pack-ice and numerous icebergs again
obstructed the vessels. On the 23rd of December, in
latitude 67° 20 S. and longitude 137° 12’ W., it was no
longer possible to break through the ice, and as the
health of the officers and crews had suffered in conse-
quence of their unceasing exertions in navigating the
vessels, Cook found himself compelled to return north
for a time. This he did with reluctance and regret, for
having seen several brown albatrosses in this region of
the heavy pack-ice he concluded that land could not be
far distant.

Cook’s retreat north continued to latitude 48° S.,
where, on the 11th of January, 1744, in latitude 47° 51’ S.
and longitude 122° 12’ W., he resolved to venture upon
another attempt to reach higher latitudes. This time he
followed a course nearly due south, and encountered
icebergs on the 2oth of January in latitude 62° 34° S. and
longitude 116° 24° W., which, however, grew less numer-
ous during the few subsequent days, or disappeared
altogether. On the 26th of January the Antarctic circle
was again crossed on meridian 109° 31 W., with but few
icebergs visible, and apparently land in sight. On closer
observation this was found to be a bank of dense fog,
which at a distance had all the appearance of a moun-
tainous country. By degrees the icebergs increased in
number on their southern course, and in latitude 69° 38
S. and longitude 108° 12’ W., field-ice again appeared,

on which sea-tang covered with mussels was observed.

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 41

and an albatross feeding on them heartily. The icebergs
now increased to gigantic size, their outlines clearly de-
fined, and not worn by waves or weather, the sides
vertical, the upper surface flat and covered with snow ;
one of them had an extent of three or four nautical
miles. On the 30th of January a remarkably bright ice-
blink was seen (this is the name given to the reflection
of extensive tracts of ice against the misty sky), and
the Resolution very soon reached the edge of the pack-
ice. (The Adventure had separated from her consort as
early as the 29th of October, 1773, and was not met
again during the whole voyage.) The dazzling white
mass of ice stretched away interminably towards the
south, and presented a striking appearance. Immedi-
atelv to the south of the ship there was a belt of pack-ice
a nautical mile in breadth, z.e., masses of ice towering
above one another, between which numerous icebergs
were wedged in. Behind this belt of pack-ice rose a per-
fectly compact, unbroken mass of ice, which seemed pretty
level, and not very high, but rising towards the south,
where it gradually disappeared on the horizon. In the
distance Cook clearly distinguished in this mass of ice
ninety-seven ice-hills, as he here calls them, many of them
lofty. They exactly resembled mountain chains, one
summit rising above the other till they were lost in the
clouds. The place of the ship from which this wonderful
appearance was observed by Cook was latitude 71° 10’ S.
and longitude 106° 54 W., by far the most southern point
reached either before or for many a decade after. In
the circumstances it was naturally perfectly impossible
to attempt any advance. Cook himself held the opinion,
which seems to have been shared by nearly every one on
board, that this ice stretched away to the pole, and that
it had for ages been connected with land in the back-
ground. He concluded that this was the vast store from
which proceeded all the icebergs he had met farther north.

42 THECAN TPARCTIC.

The presence, too, of penguins and other birds led the:
great explorer to conjecture that he was in the neighbour-
hood of land. In this, we must now admit, he was right,
for there is scarcely a doubt that the ice-hills, which
increased towards the south, so that one height always
seemed to the eye to tower above the other, were nothing
but ice-clad summits of land, while the level and rising
mass of flat ice was the northern edge of the ice
descending from the land into the sea.

Cook now rapidly retreated north, intending to find
the land long ago seen by Juan Fernandez—a vain
endeavour, since this had probably been New Zealand.
He wished then to make for the Marquesas group,
taking Easter Island on the way. The southern winter
was spent in exploring and discovering, or rediscover-
ing, numerous Pacific Island groups, such as the New
Hebrides and New Caledonia. Thence he returned to.
New Zealand, and on the 1oth of November started on
the voyage to Cape Horn, keeping to latitude 50° to 60° S.
He thus proved that there was no extensive continent in
that part of the Pacific. After making surveys of the
coasts of Tierra del Fuego and Staaten Island, he steered
south-east to latitude 58° 10 S. and longitude 53° 54
W., to seek the Golfo San Sebastiano and its coasts, as.
indicated by Mercator and his successors. His search
was of course fruitless, as no such land exists. On the
other hand fortune favoured him in the rediscovery of
the island of San Pedro, for which he next made, and
which he really found on the 14th of January, 1775, and
renamed South Georgia, regardless of the rights of
previous discoverers. From the 16th to the 23rd of
January the north coast was explored and laid down with
all possible accuracy. In this undertaking they were
ereatly assisted by the shelter afforded by several deep
bays. After exploring to the extreme east end of the
island, and discovering various small islands and rocks.

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 43

as a continuation of the coast line, Cook steered to the
south-west in order to make search for a possible con-
tinent in the central region of the South Atlantic. In
longitude 31 W., he directed his course due south, and
on the 17th of January sighted an iceberg in latitude
60° S. This was soon succeeded by several others and
by loose field-ice, and as the number of the icebergs
increased, Cook preferred again retreating to the north-
east. On the 31st of January land was seen, which
proved to be a group of lofty rocky and snow-clad
islands. On penetrating farther north, more islands

Possession Bay, South Georgia (after Cook).

appeared, and in the distance a mountainous coast, to
which Cook gave the name of Southern Thule. A
nearer approach to the land, or rather to the chain of
islands—as it was afterwards proved to be by Bellings-
hausen—was rendered impossible by the dense masses
of ice by which the islands were surrounded. Cook was
therefore compelled to rest satisfied with astronomically
determining the situation of the islands while steering
north. The whole group, so far as Cook discovered
them, lying between latitude 57° and 59° S., and under

14 THE ANTARCTIC.

longitude 26° to 27° W., received the name of South Sand-
wich Land. On the 3rd of February the Resolutzon
took her course towards the east, for the purpose of
looking for Bouvet’s Cape Circoncision, having icebergs
constantly in sight while keeping in latitude 58° to 59° S. as
far as longitude 1° E. From this meridian Cook steered
to the north-east till he reached latitude 55° S. and
longitude 4° E., the position he had assigned to the
Bouvet Isles; but without result. He now sailed due
east until he, on the 23rd of February, reached the
same place where he had been compelled to go east in
December, 1772, to avoid the field-ice. This time he
encountered but few icebergs, the last on the 25th of
February in latitude 52° 52’ S. and longitude 26° 31’ E.
On the 18th of March he reached the coast of the Cape,
on the 22nd he anchored in Table Bay, and thus com-
pleted his second circumnavigation of the world. In
regard of its success and its results, Cook’s second
voyage round the world was the greatest made since the
first by Magellan and his successors. On the 3oth of
July of the same year Cook arrived in the roads at
Spithead after a voyage of upwards of three years.
The result of Cook’s second circumnavigation of the
globe was of the greatest importance as regarded the
knowledge acquired of its actual surface. His voyage
therefore not only holds rank as the brilliant achievement
of a great navigator, but in regard of its influence
and consequences must decidedly be placed beside the
discoveries of Christopher Columbus and his successors,
to which it is indeed the obvious complement. If
Columbus set out to find a new course to the well-known
eastern continent, and found a new world instead of the
narrow seas he expected, it was Cook who verified that,
in place of the vast mythical southern continent that had
loomed large since the palmy days of classic antiquity,
the southern hemisphere of our earth was covered by

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY, 45

boundless wastes of water, and that the preponderating
surface consisted not of land but of sea. For the first
time the true limits were set of the ‘‘Oikumené,” the
habitable countries of the globe. The only field left for
exploration and discovery lay in the extension of North
America to the north-west, and this also Cook achieved
on his third and last great voyage, which ended with his
death in Hawaii.

If now the results of the second voyage, so far as the
great Terra australis is concerned, be summed up, it is
found that Cook circumnavigated the earth in latitude
50 S., with the exception of the portions between lon-
gitude 57: to 65° E. and 159 to 180 E. Moreover, he
traversed 115 of longitude in a latitude of 60° or higher,
and three times crossed the Antarctic circle. These three
points were, in round numbers, in longitude 30° E., be-
tween 135 and 146° W., and lastly between 102° and
109 W._ In this last advance he attained to a latitude of
71. 10 S., which for many a year remained, as before
said, the extreme point reached in the southern hemi-
sphere. Land he certainly newly discovered in the South
Sandwich Isles, probably when pressing farthest south,
and perhaps when first crossing the Antarctic circle, but
he did not discover South Georgia nor succeed on this
voyage in finding the French discoveries of Bouvet and
Marion. ‘This omission was made good at the beginning
of his third voyage in December, 1776, when he found
the Marion Isles (renamed Prince Edward’s Isles after
the Duke of Kent) and Kerguelen. The geographical
position of both was at the same time accurately deter-
mined.

Cook therefore had proved the absence of a southern
continent as previously imagined, and at the same time
the preponderance of water in the southern hemisphere,
though with smaller portions of land in the higher lati-
tudes. He was the first to bring a report of the com-

46 THE ANTARCTIC.

pletely polar character of these apparently desolate ice-clad
islands, destitute of all vegetation, as he was the first to re-
late the dangers of the great southern polar ocean, covered
with ice and innumerable icebergs, obstacles which
rendered the land unapproachable—“ countries (we quote
Cook’s own words) condemned to everlasting rigidity by
Nature, never to yield to the warmth of the sun, for
whose wild and desolate aspect I find no words: such
are the countries we have discovered: what then may
those resemble which lie still further to the south? It
is reasonable to suppose that we have seen the best,
being the most northerly. Should any one possess the
resolution and the fortitude to elucidate this point by
pushing yet further south than I have done, I shall not
envy him the fame of his discovery, but I make bold
to declare that the world will derive no benefit from it.”

FROM COOK TO BALLENY.

It seemed for a long time as if the course of events
justified the doubt of the great British navigator as to
whether the Antarctic regions, which he had opened up,
would ever be sought out anew. The years which
followed upon Cook’s last voyage saw no new scientific
exploration of the southern polar seas. Though it would
be a serious mistake to suppose that the spirit of inquiry
had relinquished the quest, more urgent claims had come
into notice, the survey of the newly-found coasts of
Australia and North America, as well as the innumerable
islands scattered in the Pacific Ocean. Moreover, the
lack of interest in the Antarctic regions was doubtless a
result of the political situation in Europe. The conflicts
of Republican and Napoleonic France and her allies,
which wholly absorbed the resources of England and
of France, completely paralysed all inclination for costly
maritime exploration. For a long time the waters of

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 47

the Antarctic seas were visited in their better-known
regions only by seal hunters. Indeed, in South Georgia
the sea-elephants and fur-seals were, in but few years
after Cook’s report, nearly completely extirpated by
English and American hunters.

The only incident worthy of mention during the whole
time between the voyages of Cook and the early twenties
of the present century is the re-discovery of Bouvet’s
Cape Circoncision in 1808. This was achieved by two
whaling vessels owned by the London firm of Enderby,
the Szow Swan, commanded by James Lindsay, and the
Otter, commanded by Thomas Hopper. The first saw
land on the 6th of October, 1808, which he approached as
near as the stacked-up ice would permit. According to
observations and the ship’s reckoning, the ship lay in
latitude 55° 15 S. and in longitude 4° 15’ E., only a
few nautical miles from land. After an unsuccessful
attempt to find an available harbour Lindsay left the
island on the 13th of October, after Hopper also had
sighted it on the roth.

As chance appears to have played the principal part
in the re-discovery of a forgotten land which neither
Cook had succeeded in finding previously, nor James
Clarke Ross was to succeed in finding subsequently, so
chance apparently was the principal factor in finding
the land once discovered by Dirk Gerritz. At all
events, probability points that way, and it is certain that
the English hydrographer, James Horsburgh, told the
German geographer, Heinrich Berghaus, that the island
group had been a station for American seal-hunters since
1812. The motive for keeping its existence secret was
the desire to retain the sole use of the station for their
own profit. Meantime nothing further was known of
these islands, and it is owing to the English merchant
captain, William Smith, that they re-entered the range of
human ken. Smith had sailed far south in rounding

48 THE ANTARCTIC.

Cape Horn on a voyage from the River Plate to Val-
paraiso in February, 1819, and when in latitude 62° 30
S. and longitude 60° W., discovered land. He put off
an investigation of it till his return voyage in August of
the same year. He verified the existence of a chain of
islands between latitude 61° and 63° S. and longitude
58° and 63° W., lying in the direction from north-east to
south-west. To these he gave the name of the New
South Shetland Isles. After his subsequent return to
Valparaiso he immediately communicated his discovery
to Captain Sheriff, of the English frigate Andromache
stationed there, and Captain Sheriff appointed a thor-
oughly competent officer, Bransfield, to accompany Smith
on his return. Bransfield accomplished his task of laying
down the land with the greatest care and accuracy. Smith
and Bransfield determined the extent of the island group
to reach 53° W., where the two isolated islands, Elephant
and Clarence Island, lie. They then pushed further south
on the meridian, 523° W. to nearly 65° S., without, how-
ever, sighting the elevations of Louis-Philippe Land,
which lay not very far to the west of their course.
Almost at the same time an American seal-hunting
ship had appeared in these waters, the brig //ersz/za,
James Sheffield, captain, in search of the Gerritz Land
laid down in the charts. Scarcely had the discovery of
the island group and its wealth of valuable seals been
made known, when the coasts swarmed with English
and American seal-hunters, who rendered good service
in determining the outlines of the land. Foremost
among them was the able English navigator, James
Weddell, also the Englishmen, Walker and Powell, and
the Americans, Palmer, Pendleton and others, who had
appeared with a fleet of thirty vessels in 1821. Before
long the group of the South Orkneys, further east, was
discovered, as well as a portion of the greater island
chain, which extends further to the south of the South

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 49

Shetland Isles. These, which have been named Palmer
Land and Trinity Land, are separated from the South
Shetlands by Bransfield Straits ; Louis-Philippe Land
farther east was, on the other hand, not known till
subsequently discovered by Dumont D’Urville.

In the midst of this swarm of seal-hunting vessels,
two ships made their appearance in 1821, having left
the Russian harbour of Kronstadt in 1819, presumably

WM | 85%
£00.

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen.

without having been made acquainted with the discovery
of Smith. The object of this expedition was to make a
voyage of circumnavigation in high southern latitudes,
the first since Cook’s achievements. It was under the
command of Captain Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen,
and the vessels, the Wostok, under Bellingshausen, and

the J/zrny, under Lazarew, had been sent out by the
4

50 THE ANTARCTIC:

Czar, Alexander I., with orders to push as far south as
possible. In December, 1819, Bellingshausen sailed
round South Georgia on the southern side, laying down
the land as accurately as possible, and then steered to-
wards South Sandwich Land. On his way he discovered
a lofty island on the 3rd of January, 1820, in latitude
56° 41 S.and longitude 28° 9’ W., and on the following
day, two more discoveries were made. On one of them,
Sawadowskji, there was an active volcano, and Bel-
lingshausen gave the group the name of the Traversey
Islands, in honour of the Russian Minister of Marine.
On the 8th of January he had reached the northernmost
portions of the South Sandwich group seen by Cook
and named the Candlemas Islands. Bellingshausen laid
them down accurately, as well as the remaining islands,
and determined that they were not a portion of an ex-
tensive coast, as Cook had erroneously supposed, but
all of them islands of small extent. To the south of the
islands he first penetrated as far as 60° 30 S. in longitude
28° W., but in consequence of the dense pack-ice he twice
found himself compelled to recross latitude 60° S. The
third time he crossed in longitude 7° W. and now sailed
due south.

On the 28th of January the vessels had reached a
latitude of 69° 21’ S. on the meridian 2° 15° W. when
they were stopped by an ice barrier, so that Bellings-
hausen was compelled to cruise towards the east; once
again, when on meridian 1° 11’ W., he succeeded in
penetrating to latitude 66° 25’ S. on the 2nd of February,
to be again thwarted by the impenetrable ice. He in
consequence steered north and north-east as far as latitude
65° S. and longitude 18° E. where wind and ice seemed
favourable for another attempt to reach a higher latitude ;
successful in reaching 69° 6’ S. on the 17th and 18th of
February, progress was again stopped by an interminable
rampart of ice extending east and west as far as eye could

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 51

see. The next day, when all attempts at further progress
had been relinquished, and the course towards the north
already begun, a kind of sea-swallow (Sterna) was
observed, from whose presence Bellingshausen concluded
that he must be in the neighbourhood of land. This
occurred in latitude 68° 5’ S. and longitude 16° 37’ E.
As far as 34 E. the ships now held a course somewhat
south of 65° S. then the direction was changed to south-

east again, so that under longitude 4o° 56’ E. a latitude
of 66° 53'S. was attained. At the same time, however,

the ice again grew so dense that further attempts to
penetrate it appeared useless. This was almost exactly
in the same region whence Cook had undertaken his
first advance south, and had in like manner encountered an
impenetrable barrier of ice. Here also Bellingshausen
was of opinion that land could not be far distant, as he
repeatedly observed birds not usually met with at any

great distance from land. If only he had continued his

eastward course five degrees farther he would of necessity
have encountered Enderby Land, now accurately laid
down. He continued his course along latitude 62° 30’ S.

as far as longitude 69° E., crossed latitude 60° S. only

under 88° E. in the latter part of March, surrounded by

drift-ice, and now turned to Port Jackson, z.e., Sydney,

in New South Wales.

After spending the southern winter in the careful
exploration and laying down of the Paumotu group, he
left Sydney on the 1st of December, 1820, at the be-

ginning of the southern summer, and steered south.

On the 1oth of the same month he fell in with the first
icebergs in latitude 62° 18’ S. and longitude 164° 13’ E.,
and dense pack-ice soon after, enclosing numerous ice-
bergs, one of which Bellingshausen estimated at (11
km.) nearly seven miles. The pack-ice compelled his
keeping close to the edge towards the south-east, where
the number of the icebergs increased, so that at one time

52 TIE AN PARC ANG:

upwards of a hundred were counted within sight of the
ships. At length, on the 14th, the end of the pack-ice
was reached, and open sea was seen to the south and
east. After an interval of rather more than a week, during
which the Antarctic circle was crossed, the pack-ice re-
appeared, enclosing gigantic icebergs, of which one is
said to have had a length and breadth of eleven miles.
On the 26th of December the pack-ice again completely
blocked their course, so that a second return to latitude
60° S. in longitude 144° W. was necessary. The intrepid
and indefatigable commander again steered to the south-
east with the result that a latitude of 67° 50 S. was
again attained in longitude 120° W., and again the
barrier of pack-ice stopped further progress on the 13th
of January, 1821. The former expedient was again
adopted. Bellingshausen returned to nearly 63° S. lati-
tude and 103° W. longitude, crossing the Antarctic circle
for the sixth time. Sailing along the edge of the pack-

ice towards a remarkably bright ice-blink in the south, he

reached the highest point attained during his voyage in
latitude 69 53 S. and longitude 92° 19’ W., on the 22nd
of January. He was, however, again obliged to return,
owing to the increased density of the drift-ice and the
danger of being surrounded and blocked in.

Steering to the north a small dark point was per-
ceived towards the east on the afternoon of the same
day. As the weather cleared this was seen to be snow-
covered land, and the next day it turned out on nearer
approach to be a steep, lofty island, estimated as having
an altitude of upwards of 4,o00 feet. It received the
name of Peter I.’s Island, and the situation was deter-
mined to be latitude 68° 57’ S. and longitude go° 46’ W.
As Bellingshausen felt convinced that more land was to
be discovered in this region, he steered to the east in
about latitude 68° 30’ S., and actually had the satisfaction
of sighting a coast, with a prominent cape in the distance,

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 53

on the 29th of January. Meanwhile it was impossible to
approach the land nearer than forty nautical miles out, so
that all that could be done was to determine that the land
evidently stretched away in a south-westerly direction
and that, with trifling exceptions, it was covered with
snow. The cape was found to be situated in latitude
68 43 S, and longitude 73° 10’ W.; it received the
name of Alexander I.’s Coast. Unfortunately Bellings-
hausen did not endeavour to penetrate farther to the
north-east, indeed he steered due north as far as latitude
60 S., and then made for the South Shetland Isles, of the
discovery of which he had probably received information
during the course of his voyage. Here he met some of
the before-mentioned seal-hunters, Palmer among them,
whose information doubtless was serviceable in laying
down the islands. At length he steered north by way
of the South Orkneys and South Georgia, and returned
to Kronstadt in July, 1821, after a voyage of two years.

Although the achievements of Bellingshausen have
not thrown those of Cook into the shade, they are never-
theless highly important. He certainly did not reach so
high a latitude as Cook, having attained only to 14° short
of the point achieved by the English navigator. On
the other hand, he six times crossed and recrossed the
Antarctic circle, navigated no fewer than 243 meridians
of longitude beyond 60° S. latitude, 46° being within the
Antarctic circle ; at several points he saw indications of
land ; in two cases at least he incontestably discovered
land; and all this with two slow-sailing vessels, little
fitted for progress in ice-bound waters. Concerning the
further results of his voyage scarcely anything, unfor-
tunately, is known. His rare work was published only
in the Russian language, assuredly to the great loss of
Sciences,

Although Bellingshausen, as compared with Cook,
had considerably diminished the probability of the exist-

54 THE ANTARCTIC.

ence of an extensive south polar continent by his circum-
navigation, such narrowing of the probability within a
comparatively small area followed a year later by means
of the bold, energetic advance of James Weddell, the
seal-hunter, who had already distinguished himself in his
investigation of the South Shetland and South Orkney
Isles. Weddell left the Thames on the 17th of September,
1822, and steered south ; he had two small vessels at his
disposal—the brig /aze under his own command, and the
cutter Leaufoy under M. Brisbane. After a short, un-
avoidable detention at Puerto Valdes on the Patagonian
coast he made for the South Orkney Isles, which he had
seen the previous year, but without being able to examine
them. On the 12th of January, when the ships were sur-
rounded by numerous icebergs, the island group came in
sight. Weddell utilised an eleven days’ stay not only for
seal-hunting, but for an accurate survey of the islands, not
apparently being aware that this had already been very
thoroughly done by Powell and Palmer during the
southern summer of 1821-2. As several of Weddell’s
men thought they saw land far away to the south-east,
from a mountain on the south coast of the principal
eastern island, he set sail on the 23rd of January, 1823, in
the direction indicated, but without result, for the expected
land turned out to be nothing but an enormous number
of gigantic icebergs. In spite of this disappointment,
Weddell penetrated south as far as latitude 64° 58’ S.,
under longitude 39° 41° W., returning, however, to the
north in order to ascertain whether any land lay between
the South Orkney and the South Sandwich groups, as he
was inclined to believe. During this quest he was care-
ful to avoid the course of the Adventure which, under
Fourneaux’ command, had closely approached the South
Shetland and South Orkney groups, as well as South
Georgia, in the southern summer of 1773-4 without,
however, seeing them.

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 55

As soon as Weddell had reached the course taken by
Cook to the west of the South Sandwich Isles, and had
convinced himself of the non-existence of any land in the
region he had just traversed, he again on the 5th of
February shaped his course south under meridian 31°
W. On the toth of February the Antarctic circle was
crossed after a passage surrounded by numerous icebergs,
in longitude 32° 32 W.—one of the icebergs covered
with the rubble carried down to the sea giving the delusive
appearance of land in sight. In latitude 684° S. the
imperilled ships were compelled warily to steer their
course through countless icebergs; and yet, only four
days later, on the 18th of February, in a latitude 72° 38’ S.
not a trace of ice was to be seen, the sun shone bright
from a clear sky, and the sea was literally covered with
birds, especially stormy petrels. These conditions re-
mained practically unchanged during the subsequent two
days, and on the 20th of February the vessels had at-
tained a latitude of 74° 15’ S. in longitude 34° 17’ W.
Nowhere on the horizon was land to be seen, and the
only objects visible above the level of the sea besides
the ships were four little icebergs. Weddell would gladly
have continued his course south in these favourable cir-
cumstances, but the condition of his ships crews and
provisions, as well as the prospect of a long return voyage,
compelled him to steer north again. The Antarctic circle
was rapidly reached owing to the favourable winds mostly
from the south, but here the former perils and delays of a
region of innumerable icebergs were again encountered
by the ships, and during a heavy storm on the 5th of
March the little cutter was separated from the principal
vessel. The two, however, happily met again in safety
on the 12th of March in Adventure Bay, on the southern
coast of South Georgia, where Weddell took the oppor-
tunity of letting his crews, who were suffering from
scurvy, rest and recruit, and also of exploring and in-

56 TEDE VAN TAR CTAC:

vestigating the immediate neighbourhood of the bay.
The actual winter was spent on the Falkland Isles, for
which they set sail on the 17th of April, intending to
winter there till the beginning of October. Weddell’s
plan was to load his vessels with seal-skins during the
summer of 1823-4, having so far had but little oppor-
tunity on this voyage. To his great surprise he found
the islands barricaded by a broad zone of dense pack-ice,
so that it was impossible, in spite of strenuous exertions,
to approach them. He saw himself compelled to sail for
Cape Horn, and there to await the summer season.
While he was engaged in the survey of the neighbour-
hood of the cape, the cutter had succeeded in reaching
the South Shetland Isles and laying in a rich store of
skins. In January, 1824, Weddell left the waters of
Tierra del Fuego and returned to England by way of
the Falkland Isles and Monte Video in July of the same
year.

The results of Weddell’s voyage, in spite of its com-
paratively limited extent, were nevertheless important.
For one thing, he had ascertained that the newly dis-
covered land in high latitudes to the east nowhere reached
the meridian of 30°; secondly, he was the first to point
out that after forcing a passage through the pack-ice,
which is nowhere so dense and heavy as in the Arctic
zone, and after a perilous passage through masses of
numerous icebergs, the sea in the higher latitudes was
singularly free from ice. His greatest success, however,
must be admitted to be a moral success, for he broke the
ban under which Cook had laid the Antarctic, not only
in reaching the highest latitude attained by Cook, but
indeed in surpassing him by three degrees, and this with
two small, insignificant vessels. Moreover, his discoveries
had been made by the way, as it were, without the
ordinary preparation and outfit of an actual voyage of
discovery. It would be unjust, indeed, to attribute to

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 57

good fortune the results achieved by the intrepidity and
fortitude of the skilful commander and his crews, and
an unpleasant impression is made when the celebrated
Captain, subsequently Admiral, Dumont D’Urville dis-
credits Weddell’s account, apparently because he was
not successful in following his course himself.

For many years, in the region of the South Shetlands
and the Dirk Gerritz Archipelago, seals continued to
be eagerly hunted and exterminated. In the twenties,
however, a scientific expedition appeared in these waters
without any intention of adding to existing maps and
charts by the discoveries of which they were in search.
The Chanticleer, an English frigate commanded by Cap-
tain Foster, came to these islands, not for the purpose
of searching for new Antarctic lands, but because they
offered the best opportunity as being the southernmost
land then known for completing the investigations begun
in 1822 and 1823 by the eminent navigator and physicist,
Edward Sabine. His observations on the pendulum
and on magnetic variations had been carried on over
the whole area of the Atlantic Ocean, with the exception
of the higher southern latitudes, and it was intended,
by completing the former, to secure data for arriving
at an accurate knowledge of the form of the globe.
Foster left Staten. Land on the 21st of December, 1828,
and on the 3rd of January, 1829, arrived in sight of
Smith Island, the most westerly of the South Shetlands.
Without, however, making any delay he steered due
south through Bransfield Straits to the Trinity and
Palmer Land groups, uselessly re-naming them Clarence
Land, and landing to take possession at Cape Possession,
a promontory on the probably very small Hoseason Is-
land, which he took to be part of an extensive coast.
The situation of the cape he determined to be latitude
63° 26 S. and longitude 64° 6 W. As early as the
second day after, the Chantecleer made for the interior of

58 THE ANTARCTIC.

Deception Island, an almost circular volcanic crater island
still showing active fumaroles. Here Foster remained till
the 8th of March, when he hurriedly turned north with-
out giving the least attention to the remaining members
of the island group.

Far more important than this, the only scientific
expedition—that of Bellingshausen excepted—was a
voyage made by the seal-hunter, John Biscoe, in the
service of the London firm of Enderby, and not a
voyage of discovery at all. This took place in the years.
1830-32. Biscoe, like Weddell, had two vessels, the brig
Tula and the cutter Lzvely, and with these he left
London for the Falkland Islands on the 14th of July,
1830. Leaving these on the 27th of November he, like
Weddell, kept to the east, making search for the Aurora
Isles. These were said to have been seen by the
Spanish ship Aurora in 1762, by another Spaniard,
the Princesa, in 1790, and by the Spanish corvette
Atrevida, in 1794, somewhere about latitude 53° S. and
longitude 48° W. However, neither Weddell nor Biscoe
found a trace of these islands, and Biscoe now turned
south, being the first since Bellingshausen, as far as is.
known, to make for the South Sandwich Islands. On
the roth of December, he met with icebergs in longitude
29 15 W., and about latitude 53° S., and lost sight of
the little cutter for four days. On the 20th of De-
cember he sighted Montague Island from the east, and
on the following day Bristol Island and Friesland Island,
members of the South Sandwich group. After a vain
attempt to penetrate the heavy field-ice to the south of
these islands, Biscoe found himself compelled to steer
north, after having crossed the 60th parallel of southern
latitude. On the meridian of longitude 6° 20’ W., he
recrossed the 6oth parallel, and on longitude 2° 30 E.,
he crossed the Antarctic circle ; this was on the 21st of
January, 1831, in an all but perfectly open sea. On the

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 59

ist of February a latitude of 60° 25’ S. was attained on
meridian 13° E. longitude. Here, quite close to the
region where Bellingshausen on observing sea-swallows
conjectured that he was in the neighbourhood of land,
Biscoe likewise saw various birds, that are said by ex-
perienced Antarctic navigators never to venture far out
to sea, flying to the south-west. The water also pre-
sented a lighter appearance, and it was even supposed
that land was visible, but this was by no means certain.
Again on the 4th of February land was apparently re-
peatedly seen, but as the edge of the pack-ice here
changed its direction it became impossible to follow up
or investigate this doubtful appearance, and the vessels
were obliged to take a somewhat more north-easterly
course. The whole course towards the east had to be
won by strenuous effort, for the direction of the winds
and of the surface currents of the sea was almost entirely
east and south-east towards the west or north-west ; and,
in addition, the ships were constantly hindered and
opposed by the floating masses of ice. On the 1ogth of
February, Biscoe and his ships were in precisely the
place where Cook’s progress had been stayed by a vast
mass or wall of ice, and found themselves in precisely
the same situation.

At length, on the 25th of February, when the vessels
lay in latitude 66° 2’ S. and longitude 43° 54’ E., land
was clearly seen, but it was unapproachable on account
of the heavy field-ice. Here again was the closed,
vertical ice barrier, which Biscoe, for height and ap-
pearance, compared to the North Foreland, a steep
chalk cliff on the Kentish coast, upwards of a hundred
feet high, overlooking the sea between Margate and
Ramsgate. On the 27th of February, in latitude 65°
57S. and longitude 47° 26’ E., elevated country of con-
siderable extent was seen, but surrounded by an impene-
trable belt of ice. Biscoe attempted to break through

60 THE ANTARCTIC.

this, encountering a violent storm of three days, during
which the two ships were parted from each other, and
Biscoe’s vessel was driven 120 nautical miles tothe N.N.W.
Nevertheless, he was again successful in seeing land
when on meridian 49° E. longitude, though unable to
approach nearer than between twenty and thirty nautical
miles. In consequence of the very serious effects of ex-
posure and hardship on the health of the crew of the
Tula, the leader felt it necessary to give up all further
search and exploration, and to steer north for the island
of Tasmania, reaching Hobart Town on the 7th of May.
During this run two of the crew had died, and the rest
were in so deplorable a condition through the ravages of
sickness that the ship was worked by only three officers,
one seaman, and one cabin boy. It is remarkable that
Biscoe kept within the sixtieth parallel as far as longitude
81° E., and did not cross parallel 55° S. until he had
passed meridian 118° E. longitude.

Biscoe remained in Hobart Town, where the Zzve/y
came in from Australia in August, till the return of the
southern spring made a renewal of his voyage possible.
He left the harbour on the roth of October, 1831, and
set out to hunt seals on the coasts of New Zealand and
the Chatham and Bounty Islands. On the 4th of January,
1832, he again steered to the south-east, and very
soon after crossing the sixtieth parallel of latitude on
meridian 137° W., the usual harbingers of the Antarctic
regions appeared in the form of icebergs. This was on
the 25th of January, and six days later there were
already a hundred in sight. On the 12th of February,
in longitude 81° 50’ W., a latitude of 66° 27° S. was
attained, and here numerous birds were seen, as also
whales, while even from deck—not merely from the mast-
head—as many as 250 icebergs could be seen on all sides.
On the 15th of February land appeared in the far distance
towards E.S.E., and this, on the following day turned

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 61

out to be an island, which was named Adelaide Island.
Its situation was determined to be latitude 67° 15’ S. and
longitude 68° 20’ W., and the explorations of the follow-
ing weeks showed that it was one of an island chain
scattered in the direction from E.N.E. to W.S.W., the
outpost of elevated land which has been called Graham’s
Land, while the islands were subsequently called Biscoe
Islands. After Biscoe had landed farther north on the
west coast of Palmer Land, he turned to the South
Shetland Islands where he barely escaped shipwreck,
thence to the Falkland Islands, and then home to Eng-
land. While in the Falkland Islands the two vessels
parted company, and it was not till Biscoe reached St.
Caterina in Brazil that he heard the news of the ship-
wreck of the cutter in the Falkland Isles, though happily
the crew had been saved.

Biscoe’s voyage is frequently overlooked, though un-
justly, for in reality his efforts and his results, even if he
did not push forward to so high a latitude as Weddell,
have a greater value than Weddell’s advance to the south.
Biscoe completed a circumnavigation of the pole, for the
greater part in high latitudes ; he succeeded in this with
two insignificant little vessels, augmenting considerably
beyond any predecessor our acquaintance with the dis-
tribution of land in the Antarctic regions. He not only
indicated, partly by discovery, partly by well-founded
conjecture, the existence of land to the south of the
Indian Ocean, but discovered the most extensive coast
known previous to the discoveries of Wilkes and
D’Urville, probably the connecting link between Dirk
Gerritz Archipelago and Alexander I. Land. Biscoe’s
achievements met with generous recognition in Europe at
the time, and the Geographical Societies of London and
Paris conferred high distinctions on him. Messrs.
Enderby’s firm immediately placed two other ships at
his disposal, to enable him to complete his investigations,

62 THE ANTARCTIC.

i

and the Admiralty appointed Lieutenant Rea to take part in
the expedition for the purpose of accurately determining
the position of land by means of astronomical observa-
tions. However, Biscoe found himself obliged to with-
draw from the command of the expedition at the last
moment, and although it followed his plan, undertaking
this time the voyage from east to west, it was already
completely surrounded by the ice in the South Shetland
Isles, one of the ships was crushed, and the other barely
escaped a similar fate; this was in the southern summer
of 1832-3.

Another seal-hunting captain, Kemp, fared better.
In the turn of the year 1833, and in longitude 594° E.,
he succeeded in penetrating as far as latitude 66° S., and
there saw land, named Kemp Land after him. Un-
fortunately, nothing further 1s known of his discoveries
than what may be gathered from the British Admiralty
Charts, where his course and the land he sighted are
laid down.

Several years now passed before any fresh discovery
was made in South Polar regions, nevertheless this is
the place for making mention of the voyages said to have
been made by the American, Morrell, whose accounts
unfortunately still haunt our charts. Morrell states that
on the 11th of January, 1823, having visited South
Georgia and the Bouvet Isles and left Kerguelen be-
hind, he, on the ist of February, found -himseliggm
latitude 64° 52 S. and longitude. 113° 27° E., im themven,
place, therefore, where Balleny and Wilkes distinctly
saw land; Morrell, however, makes no mention of it.
Now he steered to the west, and suddenly, without any
indication of the course pursued and entirely without
date, the vessel seems to have attained a latitude of
69 11’ S., longitude 48° 15’ E., due south consequently
of Enderby Land. Here, strange to say, a small
number of icebergs was seen, no field-ice, and as a

"zo aSnd 220) ‘(Q]]AIQ ,.p juowNG seye) Sajsy] AdUxIQ UIIYyINOG 9Y} Ul SIOqGa0]

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 63.

matter of course, no land whatever ; for land is an ob-
stacle to the drifting north of field-ice and icebergs.
Morrell now constantly steered to the west, of course
along the high parallel of latitude 69° S., and in 69° 42’
S. passed the meridian of Greenwich on the 23rd of
February. In continuation, the vague account seems
to indicate that the South Sandwich Islands were reached
a few days later, for already on the 28th of February,
the Candlemas Islands—the most northerly of the group
if Traversey Islands are excepted—were in sight ; this
would mean that within five days a distance of 1,200
miles had been traversed by a sailing ship in seas
beset with ice. The islands appeared as “burning
volcanoes,” and the westernmost had ‘already been
burnt down to the water's edge”! Nine active vol-
canoes altogether were observed—fire enough, Morrell
thought, but none of the fuel of which he was in need.
That is to say, he had sought out these islands in the
hope of picking up drift-wood there, without any explana-
tion whatever of the source from which he expected it
to come.

On the 6th of March the exploration was concluded,
and with the audacity that characterises him, Morrell,
though the season was far too advanced, steered south-
west in spite ofsit. On the tith of March, after a
dangerous passage through pack-ice, he is in a perfectly
free and open sea in latitude 64° 21’ S. and longitude
38° 51’ W. On the 14th of March latitude 70° 14’ S. is
attained—longitude not given—only a few icebergs are
in sight, the water has a temperature of 44’06 F. and
the air 46'9 F., and that at a time close to the equinoxes!
The bold explorer is stayed in his progress under these
favourable conditions by “ circumstances” which are not
more specifically described, though he is all the time
confident of being able to reach, without difficulty, a
parallel of 85° S. A course towards the north-west is

64 CHE ANTARCTIC

taken, and land is seen the very next day, the east coast
of the land already named New South Greenland by an
apocryphal Captain Johnson, in a part across which
James Clark Ross sailed without obstacle twenty years
later. They land and explore for some distance ; one point
of the coast lies about latitude 67° 52’ S. and longitude
48° 11’ W., the northern extremity is said to be in lati-
tude 64° 41’ S. and longitude 47° 21’ W., again a position
unfortunately that Powell had already sailed over as early
as 1821.

It is not necessary to dwell upon these travellers’
tales—the parts instanced are amply sufficient to prove
Morrell’s lack of veracity ; moreover, it would seem that
the account of his travels published in New York in
1832 was withdrawn soon after Biscoe’s discoveries were
made known—at all events the book is very rarely met
with. The account of Bouvet Island seems to have
been appropriated from an account by Captain Norris, of
whom mention has already been made. Captain Norris,
with two ships, while in Messrs. Enderby’s service, had
found an island under latitude 54° 15° S. and longitude
5° E. on the 1oth of December, 1825, and this he called
Liverpool Island. On the 13th of December he came
upon another island, named by him Thompson Island,
forty-five nautical miles to the north-east of the island
previously seen, and upon this he found it possible to
land. Both islands turned out to be of exclusively
volcanic origin.

From this excursion into the realm of plausible fable
we return to the sober narrative of Antarctic discovery.
An interval of several uneventful years followed upon
Biscoe’s important and fruitful voyage, during which there
is no noticeable achievement to record in the annals otf
Antarctic exploration. Not till the year 1838 did the
meritorious firm of Messrs. Enderby again send out one
of their most distinguished captains to explore such por-

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 65

tions of the circumpolar seas as had up to that time still
remained unknown. Appearances at least lead to the
supposition that John Balleny must have worked out
some such plan in his voyage between longitude 100°
and 163 E. along parallel 60° of south latitude ; for, with
the exception of the distance traversed by Captain Cook
from 100° to 121 E. longitude in a latitude of 603° S.,
no vessel had as yet completed the circumnavigation of
the pole so far south. It is true that only two very small
vessels were placed at Balleny’s disposal: the schooner
Eliza Scott under his own command, and the cutter
Sabrina under H. Freeman—the latter with its tonnage
of fifty-four being scarcely larger than the ship’s boat of
a modern ironclad. On the 16th of July, 1838, Balleny
left London and immediately shaped his course for the
waters of New Zealand. After a visit to Campbell
Island, south of New Zealand, where by a strange
chance he met John Biscoe, he on the 17th of January,
1839, made direct for south-east and then for due south.
Up to the 27th of January the ships continued sailing in
this direction without encountering either land or ice, but
on that date they saw their first iceberg in latitude 63°
37 S. and longitude 176° 50 E. Precisely in the place
where Bellingshausen in December, 1820, had been com-
pelled to return in consequence of the heavy pack-ice,
Balleny, on the 28th of January, reached his easternmost
point without serious hindrance in latitude 65° 30’ S. and
longitude 178° 13’ E. Now he took his course towards
the south-west, and on the very following day, in
latitude 66° 40 S. and longitude 177° 50’ E., he came
upon the field-ice which shut in the southern horizon,
studded with numerous icebergs. In spite of the drift-
ice, which was not heavy, the ships continued their course
next day, and on the 1st of February, in latitude 69° S.
and longitude 172° 11’ E., they reached the edge of the

heavy pack-ice, and were thus compelled to return.
5

66 THE ANTARCTIC:

After a nine days’ sail, during which the ships had an
arduous and toilsome task in working their way towards
the west through the ice and against the wind, a dark
mass was seen to rise on the horizon towards the south-
west on the 9th of February. Balleny at once made for
this, and after an hour the ships had approached within
five nautical miles of it. At sunset it could be distinctly
seen that the land consisted of three large islands, and as
no attempt to land could possibly be carried out, Balleny
was obliged to rest content with ascertaining and deter-
mining their position. According to his observations,
the west cape of the middle one lay in latitude 66° 44’ S.
and longitude 163° 11’ E. All three islands, which were
subsequently named after their discoverer, were almost
entirely covered with snow, and on all sides glaciers de-
scended to the sea.

Baffled by the ice, Balleny now turned to the north-
west, beyond the 63rd parallel of latitude, observing
numerous whales and sea-birds on his course. As, how-
ever, the ice diminished, he again commanded a south-
westerly direction, and on the 27th of February he found
himself in latitude 64° 37’ S. and longitude 130° 22’ E.
On the 2nd of March the drift-ice largely increased, and
with it the number of birds seen; at the same time land
showed in the south, towards which Balleny steered next
day. He encountered an immense number of icebergs
of colossal size, while in the south-west the ice closed in
completely, with land clearly visible beyond. A storm
meanwhile prevented Balleny’s nearer approach, and
drove him to flee from the dangerous proximity of the
pack-ice. . At the time land was seen the ships were in
latitude 165°, 25..S..and longitude 113° 30 E., andine
doubt can exist as to the correctness of Balleny’s observa-
tions, for Wilkes distinctly saw land from the same place
when there a year later. Balleny thought he saw land
some days previously, on the 26th of February, when

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 67

in latitude 64° 40’ S. and longitude 137° 35’ E., but finally
concluded that it was only a fog-bank over the icebergs.
Here, too, the subsequent investigations of Dumont
D’Urville verified the existence of land. Influenced by
the advanced time of year and the large numbers of ice-
bergs, Balleny determined upon his return. He sailed
to the north-west and crossed the 6oth parallel of S.
latitude on meridian 100° E. on the 14th of March, en-
countering violent storms on his further course, in one
of which, while the schooner suffered severely, the little
cutter disappeared, leaving no trace behind. He returned
to London on the 17th of September, still in time to
communicate particulars of his discoveries to Captain
James Clark Ross, who was on the point of sailing for
the very regions from the exploration of which Balieny
had just returned.

4. DUMONT D’URVILLE, WILKES, ROSS.

Balleny may to a certain extent be regarded as the
forerunner or pioneer of a succession of brilliant scientific
voyages of discovery to the South Pole, which we are
now in its entirety accustomed to regard as the great
era of Antarctic exploration. It was not a mere
matter of chance that this period was now entered upon,
although Balleny’s voyage across the untried tract of
southern sea within the 60th parallel of latitude may
perhaps be regarded as such. It was not chance, for
just at this time one branch of physiographical know-
ledge stood in the foreground as a subject of universal
interest, a subject that actually pointed to the poles of
the earth in connection with its wider development, and
that could not be successfully studied without explorations
north and south—the subject of terrestrial magnetism.
The high theoretical and practical importance of such
study had for a long time been recognised, and above

68 THE ANTARCTIC.

all others Alexander v. Humboldt was indefatigable
in exercising his powerful influence in furthering the
scientific investigation of this particular subject.
Sabine, and then Foster and others, had taken the
opportunity given by their travels of observing magnetic
declination, inclination, and intensity in different places,
with the view of determining the length of the seconds
pendulum. Humboldt next prevailed upon the Russian
Government, in the year 1829, to erect a long line of
magnetic observatories extending from the Baltic to
Pekin. The oscillations of the magnetic needle were
now everywhere eagerly watched, but the lack of a
connected series of observations in other parts of the
globe, and more especially in the southern hemisphere,
began to make itself seriously felt. Humboldt now, by
means of an open letter to the Royal Society of London,
called upon the scientific representatives of the Power
whose territories are most widely scattered over the
surface of the globe, to erect fixed magnetic stations
everywhere in the British Colonies. The Royal Society
readily agreed to share in these investigations of terrestrial
magnetism, perhaps lest the renown attaching to them
should become the exclusive possession of Germany
and Russia. However that may be, the Royal Society
gave a ready response, and not only determined on the
erection of fixed stations for magnetic observations them-
selves, but in the year 1838 called upon the Government
to send out a scientific expedition to the Antarctic regions.
This was to be specially designed for observing and
investigating terrestrial magnetic elements in the higher
southern latitudes; and, if possible, to discover the southern
magnetic pole—the real North Pole—of the globe. The
Government promptly responded to these wishes, and
determined that two vessels of suitable size, the Avedus
and the Zerror, should be placed at the disposal of the
Royal Society. The man best capable not only in

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 69

England, but anywhere, of securing brilliant results for
the expedition, John Clark Ross, was appointed leader.
He was the more eminent nephew of an already eminent
uncle, John Ross, and was theoretically and practically
well fitted for the post. Born in 1800, he accompanied
Edward Parry on three of his great Arctic voyages as
early as 1819-25. [hen during the years 1829-33 he
spent four winters amid Arctic ice on his uncle’s great
polar voyage, having on this occasion reached the
northern magnetic pole. Latterly he had been engaged
in a coast survey of the shores of Great Britain. By
study, training, and experience, he had developed a high
degree of scientific aptitude, and he must be regarded,
not only as a remarkable hydrographer and skilful polar
navigator, but as a physicist of the first rank in the
domain of meteorology and terrestrial magnetism.
Meanwhile Ross's expedition, though far and away
the most important, was by no means the only one which
at that time had for object the exploration of the south
polar regions. Two great expeditions had left their
native shores before Ross set out, purposing to investi-
‘gate and solve a number of problems, and among them
those connected with meteorology and terrestrial mag-
netism in various parts of the globe, and more especially
in the Pacific Ocean. Their undertaking included an
extension of their voyages to the southern polar seas,
and more especially the region due south of the South
Shetland Isles. The one expedition had been sent out
by the French Government in 1837 under the command
of Jules Sébastien César Dumont D’Urville ; it consisted
of two corvettes, L’ Astrolabe and La Zélée, the latter
commanded by Captain Jacquinot; the other, under
orders from the Government of the United States, was
a squadron of five vessels, the Vzxcennes, the Peacock,
the Porporse, the Sea Gull, and the Flyzng Fish, under
the command of the American lieutenant, Charles

70 THE ANTARCTIC,

Wilkes, as commodore, which left Chesapeake Bay in
1838. As already stated, both expeditions had been
designed for purposes other than merely polar explor-
ation, both commanders having equipment suitable to
other purposes. Dumont D’Urville was doubtless an
excellent navigator and hydrographer; this he had
abundantly proved during two voyages round the
world, both with remarkable results, but he was not best
fitted for navigating polar seas, and openly gave ex-
pression to his dislike of the enterprise. Neither were
his vessels properly fitted out for this purpose, in spite of
the ingenious invention of one of his officers, who had
strengthened the bows of the vessels against the ice with
plates made of a sort of brass, though to be sure the
armour came off at the first encounter. Dumont
D’Urville’s crews moreover were in no way equal to the
hardships of polar voyages, as was proved by the sad
mortality among them. The same may be said of the
American expedition in regard of the ships and the
absence of polar experience, although it showed a far
braver front than the French in like circumstances.
Both expeditions therefore were immeasurably behind
that of Ross in these particulars, while he was not only
one of the most eminent of polar navigators himself, but
was able to select his own officers and crews solely for
their fitness, and finally, his vessels were specially pre-
pared and protected for the purpose of polar navigation.
Nevertheless, both Dumont D’Urville and Wilkes,
especially the latter, largely contributed to an extended
and scientific knowledge of the Antarctic regions.
D’Urville first spent some time at the end of 1837 in
surveying portions of the region of the Straits of Magellan,
leaving these waters on the 9th of January, 1838, to steer
south. He frequently emphasises that it was the primary
object of his expedition to follow Weddell’s course as far
as was possible, and to exceed it if practicable ; the

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. (2

discovery of new land was merely secondary. The first
ice was seen on the 15th of January in latitude 59 20’ S.
and longitude 55° 10° W.—broken fragments of an
iceberg—and soon after, an iceberg appeared in sight.
After this D’Urville steered between the South Orkney
Isles and the Elephant and Clarence group, reaching the
edge of the pack-ice, fast breaking up in the sunshine, on
the 22nd of January, in latitude 63° 39’ S. and longitude

Jules Sébastien César Dumont d’Urville.

44° 47, W. However, the ships sailed timidly along the
edge of the ice, which extended to the north-east. On the
24th of January the place was passed—latitude 63° 23’ S.
and longitude 42° 57’ W.—which had been seen almost
entirely clear of ice on the rst of March, 1823, by Weddell.
The detailed, nay trivial, description which D’Urville
gives of the ice-edge is extremely tedious reading : we
will therefore spare the reader a further account.

72 THE ANTARCTIC.

After wasting a number of days in trying to find a
passage through the pack-ice, he sighted Cape Dundas,
the easternmost point of the South Orkneys, on the 26th
of January. He followed the north coast of the island
group till the 29th of January, and then steered north as far
as latitude 58° 45'S. Meeting with but little ice, he again
turned south. This was on the tst of February, but after
two days the increasing quantity of ice filled him with
dread, and on the 4th of February he had practically again
reached the pack-ice in latitude 62° 20’ S. and longitude
37. 8 W._ For several days D’Urville this time tried to

Ice Structure in the South Orkney Islands (after Dumont d’Urville),

break through the ice, then he gave up every further
attempt and turned round to the west—more or less
persuaded that Weddell’s account was an invention. On
the 20th of February he again came in sight of the South
Orkney Islands, and he landed on Saddle Island ; on the
25th of February Elephant and Clarence Islands were
passed on the south, and on the 26th Bridgeman Island,
which is a small volcanic island, and was just then in active
eruption.

Since it was not D’Urville’s object more nearly to

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 73

investigate the South Shetland Isles, the highest point
of which came in sight on the north-east, he steered on
to the S.S.W., the quantity of ice increasing, and the
icebergs growing more numerous. On the 27th of
February several small rocky cliffs were seen rising amid
the ice, to the great surprise of all. This again occurred
a few hours later further west, latitude 62° 57’ S., in the
part therefore where, on the chart of the Englishman
Laurie, Hope Island had been laid down. The further
the ships pressed forward, the more land now became
visible; it was, however, soon after obscured by mist.
As the weather again cleared, it was possible to get
a general view of the land, the existence of which
was certainly known previous to D’Urville, and the general
outlines of which had been laid down on the charts.
Nothing of the particulars of the older charts could, how-
ever, be recognised, although the situation, in part at
least, corresponded to the earlier indications on them,
so D’Urville felt himself justified in regarding the land
before him as his own discovery. Towards the east it
appeared as a connected, low-lying, and uniform whole ;
on the west it had the appearance of three islands. The
voyage was continued westward next day in sight of land,
the clear weather making a more accurate survey pos-
sible. It appeared completely covered with ice and
snow, and elevated ; in the south several high summits
were observed, of which one received the name of Mount
Jacquinot. Another, situated rather more to the south-
west and about 3000 feet in height, was called Mount
D’Urville ; and a third, to the north-east of both, Mount
Bransfield. All these heights lie on a mass of land called
Louis-Philippe Land, to the east of which, separated by
a strait, Joinville Land is situated.

On the 2nd of March it was possible to approach
much nearer to the land under Mount D’Urville by enter-
ing a bay that cuts into the land ina semicircle. Towards

74 THE ANTARCTIC.

W.S.W. land could still be seen in the far distance, evi-
dently already a part of Trinity Land, but between these
distant heights and Louis-Philippe Land a broad arm of
the sea seemed to lie, the Orleans Channel, which the
vessels passed by in mist and rain. On its western shore
they again came upon a group of five cone-shaped islands,
entirely free from snow, with heights varying from 320
to 480 feet. During a short interval the weather cleared,
and an extent of land was seen behind the islands, but
soon mist and rain again set in so heavily that safety
seemed to urge standing off from the land, or rather
from the Dumoulin Isles, as they had been named. On
the 4th of March the weather was better, and permitted
a view of Louis-Philippe Land and of Trinity Land,
with its snow-clad elevations, as well as of the Orleans
Channel. On the 5th of March, however, D’Urville
gave up all further search, steered past Deception Island,
and through Boyd Straits, between Smith Island and
Snow Island, to the north.

It is greatly to be regretted that D’Urville made no
attempt to visit and to lay down the coasts of either
Trinity Land or Palmer Land ; for, as he himself admits,
the condition of the ice in Bransfield Straits was very
favourable. It would also appear from his own account
that even the Orleans Channel was not entirely impass-
able; nay, from the remarks of his officers, one may
conclude that the Channel was free from ice, and. that
the attempt to sail in was not made merely on account
of the advanced season and the consequent shortening
of the daylight. In any event, it must be admitted that
D’Urville did not achieve what might have been achieved.
He was anxious to quit the inhospitable polar regions for
kinder skies, under which, after the squadron had put
into Chilian harbours, he spent the two subsequent years
in important undertakings of various kinds.

It is not impossible that D’Urville would have ab-

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 75

stained from any further activity in the higher southern
latitudes, had he not been prompted by national vanity
once again to enter upon the hateful polar regions. Ina
negative sense, he certainly had performed the task ex-
pected of him, vzz., the attainment of a higher latitude
than Weddell on Weddell’s course. It is extremely
probable that, like Wilkes, he had had news in Australia,
if not earlier, of the intended expedition of J. C. Ross in
search of the magnetic South Pole. Hoping to antici-
pate Ross in this important discovery, he probably
sought out the regions to which Ross had originally
been sent out. That the region where Balleny had
seen land, and where D’Urville and Wilkes found ex-
tensive tracts, should have been chosen as the goal of
Ross’s voyage, was a consequence of the calculations
of Gauss of Gottingen. This great mathematician and
physicist assumed, on the basis of theoretical considera-
tions, that the magnetic South Pole was to be found in
approximately latitude 66° S. and longitude 146° E., in
the neighbourhood, therefore, of D’Urville’s Adélie Land.

On the 2nd of January, 1840, D’Urville left the
harbour of Hobart Town in Tasmania, where the cele-
brated North Polar navigator, John Franklin, at that time
resided as governor of the island, and steered due south.
In the neighbourhood of latitude 51° S. he made un-
successful search for an island, entered on many charts
as Royal Company Island, since its existence is very
doubtful, and it is probable that an iceberg may have
been mistaken for an island. The first ice was en-
countered on the 16th of January in latitude 60 S.,
and it again caused D’Urville the keenest anxiety lest
the ships should again meet the impenetrable pack-ice.
His apprehensions, however, were entirely unfounded, for
on the 18th of January the vessels had reached latitude
64 S. without having seen any ice but the five large
icebergs on the date already mentioned. From their

76 THE ANTARCTIC,

regular tabular form, which entirely corresponded to the
bergs of Louis-Philippe Land, D’Urville correctly con-
cluded that he was no longer far distant from land. The
following day the number of icebergs visibly increased ;
at the same time the distant coast of unknown land
could be distinctly seen. The day had been clear, and
the additional heat affected the icebergs surrounding
the vessels in all directions, streams of water running
down everywhere from the thawing ice. The wind had
at the same time completely gone down, and this

Icebergs to the north of Adélie Land, 18th January, 1840 (after Dumont d’Urville).

rendered a nearer approach to the land impossible.
Many of the officers, indeed, still doubted whether it
was land they saw; while on their convoy, the Zéée,
they had been sure of it the day before.

It was not till the afternoon of the 21st of January that
they were able to get nearer to the land ; the coast itself
was still covered with countless icebergs, which had
obviously detached themselves only a short while before.
The further the ships pressed forward the more the number

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. gs

of bergs increased, and the more tedious the passage
through the channels between them became, where the
echoes multiplied and repeated the officers’ words of
command. At length, after several hours, the ships reached
open water on the coast, only a few nautical miles from the
newly-discovered land. This extended south-west and
north-east to the horizon, completely covered with snow,
and rose gradually to the south in elevations of from 3,000
to 3,600 feet. On the further passage along the coast to the
west a chain of small rocky islets was discovered, and on one

<a we » Wie. Rs Pg

The Astrolabe and La Zélée on the coast of Adélie Land on 2oth January, 1840
(after Dumont d’Urville).
of these a landing was effected, and possession of the newly-
discovered land was taken for France by the unfurling of
the tricolour. From here it was possible to see that here
and there single rocky summits stood out beyond the
frozen covering of the land, and it was also possible to
collect a few specimens of rock and stone, and from
these to draw conclusions concerning the petrographical
character of the country. Now, at length, when abso-
lutely no doubt remained as to the actual ¢erra firma of

78 THE ANTARCTIC.

their discovery, the land received the name of Terre
Adelie, in honour of the reigning queen, consort of Louis.
Philippe.

On the following day D’Urville continued the course
hitherto pursued westward along the coast, the frozen
covering of which was broken by numerous ravines, and
called the bay, from which this peculiar characteristic
of the inland ice had been observed, Baie des Ravines.
The icebergs in this region frequently showed signs of
peculiar colouring, blackish and dark red, obviously in-
dicating earthy matter present in the ice. D’Urville
attempted to secure drifting pieces of this ice, but with-
out success, for a strong current along the coast bore the
ships rapidly along to the west, and rendered it impos-
sible to lower the boats. The progress of this course
was suddenly and unexpectedly arrested by pack-ice, the
first seen in these waters, which moved in a northerly
and then easterly direction ; and, therefore, made further
coasting to the west quite impossible. D’Urville there-
fore found himself compelled to tack to the east in the
teeth of a rising and violent wind, in order to extricate
himself from the bay formed round him by the pack-ice.
One advantage the storm from the east certainly secured,
and this was the loosening of the pack-ice. Thus the
ships were enabled, though at a considerable distance
from shore, to continue their westerly course after
escaping from the pack-ice, and retreating to latitude
64 48'S. Near this place the French vessels, to their
unbounded astonishment, saw a ship looming through
the mist, which turned out to be a brig flying the Ameri-
can flag, and steering upon them at full speed. D’Urville
commanded more sail to be set on the Astrolabe, a very
slow sailer, to enable her to join the American and
exchange news. But apparently this manceuvre was.
misunderstood by the American, for she quickly turned
south and was soon out of sight. It was one of the ships.

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 79.

of Wilkes’s squadron, the Porfozse, commanded by Hud-
son, which, to the surprise of both sides, here encountered
D’Urville’s ships on the 29th of January.

When on the 30th of January the snow, which had
gradually succeeded to the dense fog of the previous day,
diminished and the sky cleared, the look-out announced
pack-ice to the south. D’Urville made for it, but saw on
his nearer approach that it was not pack-ice at all, and
that the outer edge of the ice was of an entirely different
character. It descended in perpendicular walls of 90 to
140 feet high to the surface of the sea, and thus formed
a gigantic barrier, stretching far away to the west. Here
and there, however, local indentations corresponded to
the icebergs piled up in front of them, and here attaining
a greater height than had previously been met with. In
the far distance capes and bays were discerned, but all
these variations in the coast outline ended in the perpen-
dicular ice barrier. The vessels sailed along this wall
for a distance of seventy to ninety miles without seeing
any height rising above the elevated snow-covered plain.
The height, moreover, precluded all possibility of getting
a detailed view of the interior. On the evening of the
day which had been wholly given up to the examination
of this coast, a promontory was reached, from which the
ice extended in a south-westerly direction, apparently far
beyond the horizon, as was conjectured from the marked
ice-blink in that quarter. D’Urville was confident that
this ice barrier was connected with land, to which he gave
the name of “The Clarie Coast” (Céte Clarie). Even
on the following day he pursued his course along the
barrier, but only to be stopped by actual pack-ice, the
edge of which stretched away to the west and north-west.
Without any further attempt to circumvent this, he turned
north, satisfied with his results, which included numerous
meteorological and magnetic observations—the latter
having as far as possible been made on the ice. After a

80 THE ANTARCTIC.

few days the last ice lay behind him, and he made for
Hobart Town to recruit after the hardships of his polar
voyage, returning to France in the same year, 1840.

All that has been said of D’Urville’s first attempt to
penetrate the Antarctic regions may be repeated here.
According to the conclusions arrived at from reading his
own account, it appears that a determined leader, with a
firm resolution from the very outset to make an important
advance, would certainly have achieved greater results
than D’Urville. It is greatly to be regretted that having
the advantage of being a week earlier than Wilkes, he

Discovery of the Clarie Coast, 26th January, 1840 (after Dumont d’Urville).

should not have profited by the south winds observed by
Wilkes in the beginning of February, for continuing his
explorations along the coasts stretching to the west. It
must, however, be taken into account that the health of
his crews gave cause for anxiety and alarm, and compelled
his return, during which he again lost a number of his
men through illness and death,

D’Urville claimed as his discovery the coast now
known by the name of Wilkes Land. He was, however,
not the first to see land in these regions, and must yield

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 81

the palm to Balleny who also saw D’ Urville’s Céte Clarie,
although he subsequently concluded it to be merely a
cloud bank, while he certainly found Sabrina Land
farther west. Of this fact D’Urville could not possibly
have any knowledge, as Balleny did not return to
Europe till the autumn of 1839, when his discoveries
were made known, and the news could not have reached
Tasmania and Australia by the time D’Urville and
Wilkes started for the higher southern latitudes. Neither
was Wilkes’ attempt his first in these waters; like
D’Urville he had begun his exploration of Antarctic land
and sea from the south of Cape Horn, and the chrono-
logical order of discovery necessitates an account of his
first Antarctic voyage.

After an exploration of the coasts of Tierra del
Fuego, Wilkes had assembled his squadron in Orange
Harbour and divided his forces so that he himself on
board the Porpozse, and the Sea Gull under Lieutenant
Johnston were to explore the South Shetland Isles as
well as Palmer and Trinity Land, while the Peacock
under Captain Hudson, and the /%ing Fish under
Lieutenant Walker, set out for the waters to the west of
Graham’s Land and Alexander Land. Wilkes doubtless
deprived himself of a great portion of the success he, and
especially the two latter ships, might have achieved by
postponing his voyage to the very end of February,
1838. The voyage of the Porforse and the Sea Gull
contains no event of any importance. On the rst of
March Wilkes met the first icebergs, and shortly after-
wards land came in sight, the small Riddley Isles, the
out-posts of the northern point of King George Island,
the easternmost of the actual South Shetland Isles. The
next day, Bridgeman Island was passed in foggy weather,
It was in a state of volcanic activity and the sulphurous
fumes emitted were distinctly perceived as they were
carried by the wind. on the 3rd of March, Louis-

82 THE ANTARCTIC.

Philippe Land was seen, the highest summit being re-
garded by Wilkes as identical with the Mount Hope of
the seal-hunters, and consequently not to be claimed as
a discovery of his own. Great masses of ice rendered a
nearer approach to the land impossible, and Wilkes
therefore missed seeing the Orleans channel, so that
Louis-Philippe Land seemed to him to be the extreme
east of Palmer Land. Without any further attempt to

Charles Wilkes.

get nearer land, Wilkes now returned to Orange Harbour,
taking the channel between Elephant and Clarence
Islands.

According to Wilkes’ directions, Johnson first made
for Deception Island, where he remained a week, occu-
pied with observations of a general nature and an ex-
ploration of the island, at that time in a state of great
fumarole activity. The Sea Gué/ again left these waters

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 83

on the 17th of March, and also reached Orange Harbour
after a stormy voyage on the 22nd of March.

The course of the other two vessels yielded com-
paratively far more important results. In consequence
of the bad weather they were separated soon after leav-
ing Cape Horn, and as they did not again meet in the
position agreed upon, Hudson, with the Peacock, sailed
first south and then south-east. He encountered no ice-
bergs till the 11th of March, in latitude 64° 27’ S. and
longitude 84° W.; after this they rapidly became more
numerous and rendered progress very troublesome. On
the 20th of March, on meridian go W., he had attained
a latitude of 68° S. and came upon pack-ice, not far,
therefore, from Bellingshausen’s Peter I. Island, of which,
however, he saw nothing on account of the thick fog.
He now steered west, and on the 25th of March, when
in longitude 97° 58’ W. and latitude 68° S., to his great
delight he fell in with the FZyzng Fish. As fresh ice
was beginning to form, and the days were growing per-
ceptibly shorter, both ships started from here on the
return voyage, the Peacock seeing the last iceberg in
latitude 62° 30’ S. and longitude 87° 40’ W.

During the voyage of the Peacock, Lieutenant Walker
with the /¢yzng Fish first cruised about for several days,
after they were separated, in the position determined on
for a rendezvous. Then he steered south with the object
of finding the position in which Cook had reached his
highest southern latitude on the 30th of January, 1774. On
the 18th of March he came upon a heavy mass of pack-
ice in latitude 67° 30’ S. and longitude 105° W., on the
21st of March, surrounded by many icebergs and in sight
of the pack-ice, he had penetrated to latitude 68° 41’ S.
and longitude 103° 34’ W., and on the 23rd of March
he succeeded in crossing the 7oth parallel of southern
latitude in longitude 100° 16’ W., only five degrees
farther east than Cook. But what was even more im-

84 THE ANTARCTIC.

portant than the latitude attained was the view on the
further side of an extensive mass of pack-ice enclosing
numerous icebergs, and of land, or at all events the
appearance of land. Unfortunately it was impossible to
examine further whether it actually was land. The
advanced time of year, as already stated, favoured the
formation of fresh ice, and there was not a moment to be
- lost in extricating the vessel from her position if the risk
of being helplessly frozen in was not to be encountered.
Fortunately the retreat was favoured by moonlight, so
that Walker was not compelled to lose the lengthening
nights while his ship lay to. On the 24th of March he
had reached latitude 69° 6’ S. and longitude 96° 50’ W.,
and on the 25th of March the meeting with the Peacock
occurred. The two vessels sailed together as far as
latitude 60° S., where they separated, the /Zyzng Fish to
make for Orange Harbour, the Peacock steering for the
Chilian coast. Thus this advance to the south, spite
of its short duration, and spite of the advanced season,
attained important results by means of at least one of the
ships. It -had reached a high latitude, and had made it
probable that land extended to the east of that seen by
Cook. If we take into consideration that these ships,
like those of D’Urville, were manned by crews having no
experience of polar navigation, and that the vessels them-
selves were in no wise prepared for it, we must admit
that they were decidedly successful, especially as they
were almost constantly opposed by mist and storm.
After Wilkes had spent the year 1839 in valuable and
varied research in the waters of the Pacific, he deter-
mined to utilise the approaching southern summer of
1839-40 for a second attempt with his squadron in
Antarctic waters. As before said, he may have been
prompted by news of the expedition to be made by
Ross. He, like D’Urville, knew the plans of Ross,

but he was not yet acquainted with the discoveries.

(a]1419,,P JuoWNG J9y3¥) pur] oPPy yw Surpuey

‘tg aang a9v.7 |

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 85

already made by Balleny, and was consequently justified,
like D’Urville, in regarding himself as the discoverer of
these regions. The four vessels started from Sydney on
the 27th of December, 1839—the Sea Gul/ had been
wrecked in the summer of 1839—touched Macquarie
Island, and looked for Emerald Isle, which they could
not find as indicated in latitude 57° 15’ S., longitude 162°
30 E. The Flying Fish, commanded by Lieutenant
Pinkney, was separated from the other three soon after
they set out; while these, the Vzxcennes under Wilkes
himself, the Peacock under Captain Hudson, and the
Porpotse under Lieutenant Ringgold, met after a short
separation at the edge of the pack-ice. Wilkes had met
the first iceberg on the 15th of January, 1840, in latitude
61° 8 S. and longitude 162° 32’ E., and on the evening
of the following day, after a favourable run, had come
upon the edge of the pack-ice in latitude 64° 11’ S. and
longitude 164° 30° E., and found it heavy and thickly
studded with icebergs. Wilkes steered to the west
along the edge of the ice in the Vzxcennes, and on the
16th of January fell in with the Peacock and the Porporse.
It was here, in longitude 157° 56’ E. and latitude 66° S.
that, according to Wilkes’ account, land was decidedly
seen by all three ships. Driving snow and fog shut in
the view towards the south during the next few days,
during which an unbroken course to the west was held.
On the roth of January, the weather being good, land
was most certainly seen lying S.S.E. and S.W. from the
Vincennes in latitude 66° 20’ S. and longitude 154° 30’ E.
On the same day land was seen to the south-west by the
Peacock, also appearing, when first observed, high above
an iceberg which lay on the line of sight. Wilkes gave
the name of Peacock Bay to the bay apparently sweeping
inland.

As the vessels sailed on to the west, vast masses of
icebergs gradually took the place of field-ice almost

86 THE ANTARCTIC:

entirely. After Wilkes had run past Peacock Bay, on the
22nd of January, without being able to enter it—three
days, therefore, after its discovery by Hudson—he, on
the 23rd of January, in latitude 67° 5’ S. and longitude
147° 30 E., again saw land, and this time it lay to the
east and west of a deep and broad indentation made by
the sea; he named this Disappointment Bay, and, con-
tinuing his course across it, reached latitude 67° 5’ S.
and longitude 147° 30° W. The next few days were

» The Vincennes in Disappointment Bay (after Wilkes).

very stormy, and progress through the numerous ice-
bergs became very perilous ; moreover, the outlook was
obstructed by snowstorms and dense fogs, so that land
was not again seen till the 28th of January—the eastern
portion of Adélie Land, discovered seven days previously
by Dumont d’Urville. On the whole, Wilkes had hither-
to constantly sailed in company with the Porfozse, from
which also signs of land had been observed on the 22nd
of January, as well as icebergs and portions of icebergs

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 87

laden with fragments of rock and stone rubbish. On the
23rd the two vessels came in sight of each other, also
on the 27th, but from this date forwards the Porfozse
hastened,on to the west in advance of the Vzxcennes.
Of the two other ships, the Peacock had an accident on
the 23rd of January, in latitude 65° 55’ S. and longitude
151. 19 E., her rudder being injured by the thick ice.
In consequence of this she was partly unable to obey
the helm, and consequently came into collision with an
iceberg, so that she was compelled to leave the polar
seas without delay and make for Sydney, which was
reached on the 17th of February. Pinkney, in the
Flying Fish, had first seen icebergs on the 18th of
January; on the 21st he had reached the edge of the
pack-ice, in latitude 65° 20’ S. and longitude 159° 36’ E.,
and then steered to the west, keeping, on the whole, to
the north of the other ships. On the 23rd he, too, saw
the land elevations observed by the others; but for the
rest saw no land whatever, not even by Peacock Bay,
which he approached pretty closely on the 30th of Janu-
ary. This is accounted for by a violent snowstorm
which raged from the south-east on that date. As far
as longitude 143 E. he held to the edge of the pack-ice ;
then, however, he steered again to the north, and returned
to Sydney by New Zealand.

The other two ships meantime pursued their ardu-
ous course with undiminished spirit. On the 30th of
January Wilkes again saw land. He succeeded in
breaking through the field-ice in a narrow channel and
in reaching the open water, on which he approached the
dark cliffs of Adélie Land, within half a mile of the very
point where its first discoverer found the outlying coast
islets. According to Wilkes’ estimate the land here
extended east and west to a distance of fully sixty
nautical miles from his position in latitude 66° 45’ S.
and longitude 140 3’ E. Wilkes here gave the whole

88 THE ANTARCTIC.

of the newly-discovered lands the name of the Ant-
arctic Continent, and the bay in which he rode he called
Piner’s Bay. Several of the officers appeared to think
they could see smoke rising from the summits of the
mountains, but Wilkes was of opinion this effect was
produced merely by snowdrift. Wilkes’ success in
pushing forward to the very coast took place at the
same time as the meeting of the Porfozse with the
French vessels as already related. The V2ncennes as
well as the Porfotse now steered on to the west, being
prevented by the violent snowstorm of the following
day from sighting any land. On the other hand, the
Porpoise, on the 1st of February, and the Vzucennes,
on the 2nd, saw the vertical ice barrier already seen
by D’Urville—Wilkes’ observations making their posi-
tion latitude 66 12° S.-and longitude 137: 2° EH. Oa
the 2nd of February Wilkes sailed the whole day
in uninterrupted view of land, which he was able to
approach for a short distance from the position in-
dicated above. It was everywhere closed by the ice
barrier, which Wilkes judged to be 160 to 200 feet high.
On the 3rd of February a violent storm beat back the
ship to the north ; on the 6th Wilkes was again in sight of
the ice-wall, and was able on the 7th clearly to see the
elevated land beyond it, and to observe that both the ice-
wall and the land made a sudden deviation to the south.
This point, situated in latitude 64° 49’ S. and longitude 131°
40 E., and named Cape Carr by Wilkes, is identical with
the western extremity of D’Urville’s Cote Clarie.

The Vencennes attempted on the 8th of February to
follow the course of the ice barrier beyond Cape Carr
to the south, but was unsuccessful owing to the enormous
number of icebergs. Land was lost sight of, and was
not again seen till the evening, when it appeared in the
far distance from latitude 65° 3’ S. and longitude 127° 7’
E., when it was named North’s Highland.

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 89

On the toth of February, when the Vzxcennes was in
latitude 65 27’ S. and longitude 122° 35’ E. land (Tottens’
Highland, identical with Balleny’s Sabrina Land) again
appeared, though not distinctly, and again on the 12th
of February. A high snow-covered mountain chain was
seen at a distance of sixteen to twenty-three miles, which
was named Budd’s High Land, and was situated in about
latitude 65° 20’ S. and longitude 112° 16’ E. Many
icebergs covered with fragments of stone were found on
the edge of the pack-ice, and led Wilkes to hope that
a landing might be effected, a hope that was frustrated
by the completely closed pack-ice. The land was
again distinctly seen on the following day from latitude
65-37 ©. and longitude 106 40 EE. at a distance
of twelve to fourteen miles, and received the name of
Knox’s Highland.

On the following day, February the 14th, the
Vincennes found it possible to approach the land to
within a distance of eight to nine miles. The day was
fine and clear, and allowed of land being seen to a great
distance from the ship’s position in latitude 66° S. and
longitude 106° 19’ E. According to Wilkes’ estimate
a coast of ninety miles in extent was visible, and the
elevation, which was completely covered with snow,
might approximately reach 2,800 feet. Several icebergs,
again thickly covered with stones and broken rock, were
observed in the neighbourhood of the coast; and as a
landing could not be effected, the largest accessible
iceberg was visited for the twofold purpose of making
magnetic observations on it, and of collecting specimens
of the stones lying in immense masses upon it. In the
middle of the part visited a small tarn of melted ice-
water was discovered, from which the vessel was re-
plenished with fresh water. On the 15th of February
land was lost sight of, as the north-westerly drift of the
pack-ice compelled Wilkes to take the same course.

90 THE ANTARCTIC.

Nevertheless the rubble on the numerous icebergs still
indicated that land could not be very far distant. The
sea was remarkably smooth, and above all showed no
signs of surf or breakers, so that Wilkes conjectured
that a large mass of field-ice lay to the north of his
course: indeed he hoped to be successful in reaching
Enderby Land along the coast. In this he was, however,
disappointed on the following day, when, surrounded
by icebergs laden with debris he was compelled by the
pack-ice to steer north. All these experiences were
repeated on the 17th of February, when he apparently
saw land from latitude 64° 1’ S. and longitude 97° 37’
E., but this he terms ‘‘appearance of land” and not land
positively seen. It lay towards the south-west, and
seemed to extend towards the north. In spite of its.
doubtful appearance Wilkes named it Termination Land,
and we shall return to the subject later on in discussing
the advance of the Challenger. Wilkes continued his
search for land in these regions for several days, in the
midst of grave difficulty occasioned by the pack-ice ; but
on the 2oth of February, when in latitude 62° S. and
longitude 102 E., he gave up the useless quest and
steered back to the north, unhindered by the pack-ice
which here took a westerly direction. He returned to
Sydney Harbour on the 11th of March.

We now return to the Porporse, which we left at the
point where the meeting with Dumont d’Urville’s vessels
took place on the 30th of January. Two days later she
also came upon the vertical wall of ice, which her com-
mander, Ringgold, describes in the identical terms used
by Wilkes and D’Urville. On the 2nd of February
Ringgold was able to enter the bay on the west side of
Céte Clarie and to press forward as far as latitude
65 24’ S. and longitude 130° 36’ E., without, however,
coming upon land even there. A violent storm arising
compelled him to turn north in order to avoid the region

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 91

of the greater number of icebergs, and it was not till the
roth of February that he again crossed parallel 65 in
longitude 110 54’ E. On the next day, and subse-
quently, numerous icebergs, with déérzs of rock and stone,
were observed, but land itself did not again come in
sight. Ringgold kept his course along the edge of the
pack-ice up to the 14th of February, when he found himself
on meridian 100° E. ; then in latitude 63° S. approximately
he again steered east, and once more attempted to push
forward south on the 21st of February in longitude 121°
30° E., but without any result beyond that of penetrating
to latitude 65° 15'S. At length he too left the inhospi-
table and stormy regions of Wilkes Land and returned
to Sydney, seeing his last iceberg as far north as latitude
55 9. and longitude 140 E.

The results of this expedition are of great value, even
after all allowance has been made for the achievements
of Balleny and Dumont d’Urville. A succession of more
or less connected groups of land had been seen—though
it was premature to regard them as an Antarctic continent
—over an extent which exceeds the length of the Ural
Mountains, if moderately estimated at nearly 1,500 miles,
and equals the length of the west coast of Greenland,
from Cape Farewell to Upernivik. Those who are of
opinion that only small scattered islands were seen, must
not forget that Wilkes was greatly harassed by fogs and
storms, that land could be seen only in really good
weather, and that, given continuous fine weather and a
clear sky, Wilkes would certainly have discovered more.
In any event it is a mistake to regard the discoveries of
Wilkes as apocryphal, as was done by Ross, or to omit
placing them on the chart. The discoveries made a
year previously by Balleny, and those simultaneously
made by Dumont d’Urville, are telling proofs that the
land seen by Wilkes was an actual fact.

Before the expeditions described had set out for the

92 THETANTARCTIC

south, the internal and external equipment of the two
vessels destined for James Clark Ross’s three years’
expedition had already been vigorously taken in hand
at Chatham. Preparations were completed by the end
of September, and on the 30th of September, 1839,
Ross, as leader of the expedition, left England from
Margate Roads, on board the Hvredus, of which he was
commander. The commander of the TZerror was
Francis Crozier, who subsequently accompanied Sir
John Franklin in the same vessel and lost his life in
1845. Madeira, the Canaries, the Cape Verde Islands, St.
Paul’s Rocks (lying near the equator between Africa and
South America), Trinidad (longitude 29° W., latitude 21°
S.), and St. Helena were visited, and simultaneous mag-
netic observations were made, 2z.e., at the same time as
at all the observatories scattered over the earth. On
the 17th of March, 1840, the expedition reached the
Cape of Good Hope, and remained there till the 6th
of April for the purpose of establishing a permanent
magnetic observatory. On resuming their voyage,
Prince Edward (or Marion) Island and Crozet Island
were visited, without landing, and on the 6th of May
Kerguelen Island came in sight. It was not till the
15th of May that they made Christmas Harbour, dis-
covered and described by the first to visit it, Kerguelen,
and subsequently by Cook. Here the ships remained
till the 20th of July, busily occupied with extensive mag-
netic observations.

At length, on the 16th of August, Hobart Town in
Tasmania was reached, where Ross, according to his
instructions, again erected and established a permanent
magnetic observatory. Here, too, he was met by the news
that he had been anticipated by Dumont d’Urville and by
Wilkes in the exploration of the regions in which it was
conjectured that the South Magnetic Pole was situated.
Wilkes, indeed, conveyed to Ross the tracing of the

James Clark Ross (after a steel engraving in the possession of Dr. G. Neumayer).

[Face page 92

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HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 93

original chart, in which he had laid down the outlines
of his “‘ Antarctic Continent”. Ross was naturally and
justifiably surprised and annoyed to find his purposes
thus forestalled by commanders who were well aware
of the preparations for fitting out the expedition under
his own command. Fortunately, much had been left
in his instructions to his own judgment, and he there-
fore resolved to select another passage southward,
feeling that it was inconsistent with the traditions of
British exploration to follow in the footsteps of other
nations.

Ross therefore determined to penetrate to the south,
far to the east of the course of these explorers,- on
meridian 170 E., the meridian on which Balleny two
years previously had found the sea comparatively open in
latitude 69° S. It was therefore to be expected that he
would pass further south than had been possible to either
D’Urville or Wilkes. On the 12th of November he
stood down the Derwent River, the splendid harbour of
Hobart Town, and first shaped his course for the smaller
island groups off the coast of New Zealand for the pur-
pose of making magnetic observations. On the 2oth of
November the Auckland Islands were reached, where
the expedition stayed till the 12th of December, and on
the 13th of December, Campbell Island, where a four
days’ stay was made. On the 24th of December the 6oth
parallel south was crossed on meridian 170° E., and on
the 28th, in latitude 63° 20’ S. and longitude 174° E., the
first iceberg came in sight, rapidly succeeded by numerous
others of large size and with tabular summits. The ex-
perienced Arctic navigator was struck by their uniformity,
differing in this respect from the icebergs of the Arctic
seas. Many bergs and much loose ice were passed, and
on the 31st of December, when the ships were in latitude
66° S. and longitude 171° 50’ E., a strong ice-blink in
the sky to the south pointed out the situation of the pack.

‘4 THE ANTARCTIC.

Ross steered through the loose drift-ice to the edge of
the heavy main pack on New Year's Day, 1840, crossing
the Antarctic circle in his passage, but owing to the
thick weather he was obliged to haul off without pene-
trating into the pack-ice. Meantime, although this
obstruction had been met with in a lower latitude than
had been anticipated, this circumstance had no dispiriting
effect on the explorers, for they had also expected to find
it much more impenetrable than it proved to be. The
next day a strong breeze with thick snow showers led
Ross to stand off again, but after sailing one degree
north, and nearly three to the east, he, on the 4th of
January, determined to push the ships into the ice,
which was rapidly drifting north. From the 4th to the
oth of January the way was pursued through the pack
without the clear sea being discernible. Early on the
oth of January the open water was again reached in
latitude 69° 15’ S. and longitude 176° 15’ E. When the
fog, which had prevailed since the 8th, cleared off on
the following day, no trace of ice was any longer to be
seen from the masthead, and a latitude of 70° 23’ S. on
meridian 174° 50’ E. was attained.

In these circumstances Ross conjectured that the
land seen by Wilkes and Dumont d’Urville consisted
only of small islands, and that he would be in a position
to approach the magnetic pole by sea. The dip had
already indicated that this lay, not in the place predicted
by the calculations of Gauss, but considerably further
south,

Ross now shaped his course south-west, directly for
the magnetic pole; but that very evening a strong
‘“Jand-blink ” appeared, and this in the morning proved
to be a lofty mountain chain covered with perennial snow.
At his approach the peaks seemed to open out and
extend to the right and left across the whole horizon,
and it seems that the whole range had actually been

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 95

previously seen by means of the refraction of light at
the remarkable distance of a hundred nautical miles.
On the evening of the 9th of January the ships had
approached to within two and a half miles of the shore,
which was lined by heavy pack-ice. The summits of
the mountain chain rose to elevations of from seven
to ten thousand feet above sea-level: the highest, a
conical peak, was named Mount Sabine, and the whole
chain, running south-east and north-west, was named
Admiralty Range. The mountains were completely
covered with ice and snow, and everywhere gigantic
glaciers filled the intervening valleys, projecting many
miles into the sea, and ending in abrupt, perpendicular
ice cliffs. A promontory below Mount Sabine, partly
free from snow, was named Cape Adare, and from this
projection the land made a sudden bend to the south.
The magnetic dip, ze., the angle that the perpendicu-
larly balanced needle makes with the horizon, had now
increased to 87°, according to which the magnetic pole
was placed in latitude 76° S. and longitude 145° 20’ E.
Ross still had hopes of circumnavigating the land
on the south and thus reaching the pole, and with this
object he resolved to steer along the east coast towards
the south. On this course he found a number of small
islands of volcanic origin ; and on one of these, in latitude
wmenso oS. and longitude 171 97 Es he landed! on the
12th of January, naming it Possession Island. During
the four succeeding days the vessels were twice compelled
by violent snowstorms to stand off towards the east
into the open sea, so as to avoid the perils of the shore
and the pack-ice. The summits of the lofty mountain
chain, here estimated at upwards of 10,000 feet high,
remained almost constantly in sight, and even at a dis-
tance of 140 miles were clearly recognisable, so that
many, not accustomed to estimating distances from land,
would have thought themselves only thirty or forty miles

96 THE ANTARCTIC.

off. In the intervals of bright sunshine the land pre-
sented a wonderful appearance, the ice-girt heights stand-
ing out in sharp contrast high above the rolling clouds.
On the 20th and 21st of January the ships were in the
neighbourhood of Coulman Island, and land, with lofty
elevations, was again seen far to the south south-west.
The loftiest mountain, far exceeding all others in the
south polar regions in height, was named Mount Mel-
bourne. Its outlines bore a great resemblance to those

: 3 “= —

Mount Minto and Mount Adam (after Ross).

of Mount Etna, though its elevation exceeds that of
the Sicilian volcano. A further progress south caused
the land to the west to gradually disappear, for an ex-
tremely broad belt of ice made the approach along the
coast and the pack-ice most undesirable. Ross now
steered due south, crossing the highest latitude attained
by Weddell on the 22nd of January, and on the 26th
land again came in sight. On the following day this

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. OT

was discovered to be an isolated island, small but elevated,
and to this the name of Franklin Island was given. A
perilous landing was effected, and the position found to
be latitude 76° 8 S. and longitude 168° 12 E.

On further progress south, land appeared in the same
direction, in the radiance of the midnight sun, seemingly
consisting of a number of small islands. Meanwhile the
further the ships advanced the higher the apparent
islands rose on the horizon, and it was soon evident that
they were the summits of lofty mountains forming a coast
which seemed to extend east and west. These summits
were cone-shaped, and although it was first supposed that
the summit of one was surrounded by masses of snow-
drift, it was soon seen that these clouds consisted of
smoke, ejected at irregular intervals by the mountain
itself, and that the totally unexpected spectacle of an
active volcano presented itself in these high latitudes.
The reflection of the lava was distinctly seen over the
crater, and some of the officers even thought they saw
streams of lava proceeding from the summit. This
volcano was named Mount Erebus, and its height was
estimated at 12,400 feet, while a smaller one, Mount
Terror, lying to the east, 10,900 feet high, appeared to
be no longer active ; its sides, however, were more free
from snow than those of its greater neighbour. To the
north of Mount Erebus lay a small, elevated, round
island named Beaufort Island, while a promontory at its
foot was called Cape Bird, and another at the foot of
Mount Terror, Cape Crozier.

It had been remarked, at the very first approach to
land, that an apparently low white line extending from
the eastern point of Mount Terror was continued east-
wards till it was lost to the eye on the horizon. On
nearer approach this proved to be a perfectly perpendicular
cliff of ice, between 150 and 200 feet above sea-level,

perfectly flat and level at the top, and without fissure or
7

98 THE ANTARCTIC.

promontory on its seaward face. In the distance beyond,
only the summit of a lofty range of mountains could be
seen, apparently extending southward as far as latitude
79 S., Cape Crozier being situated in latitude 77° 25’ S.,
longitude 169 10° E. This range received the name
of the Parry Mountains. On account of the height of
this ice cliff it was impossible to determine what lay be-
yond it, and Ross was obliged to content himself with
sailing along the lofty barrier. Progress south was

~—

Cape Crozier and Mount Terror (after Ross).

necessarily out of the question ; indeed, Ross says that he
might as well have tried to sail through the cliffs of Dover
as southward through the icy mass, which in height and
conformation resembles them. From the 28th of January
onwards Ross altered his course to the eastward ; on the
next day 100 nautical miles’ run along the vertical ice
cliff had brought no change in its appearance or direction.
Here Ross found it advisable to increase his distance

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 99

from the barrier, as with a light wind the northerly swell
drifted the vessels gradually towards it. Before long,
snow showers set in, continuing through the following
day, and, as there seemed no prospect of progress towards
the south-east along the ice barrier, Ross was obliged to
steer north-east, so as to pass over as great an extent of
space as possible in the open sea with the steady wind.
On the 31st of January pack-ice was encountered, and the
ships entered it and penetrated it for a distance of twelve
or thirteen miles, but, as it grew closer and the wind
stronger, Ross again stood back to the westward for the
night in the open sea. On the following day the ice
was again penetrated to the southward, and on the 2nd of
February the ice was again in sight without any change
whatever in its appearance. A near approach was, how-
ever, quite impracticable owing to the heavy outlying
pack-ice.

Since Ross was of opinion that some time must
still elapse before the ice seen to the north-west of
Mount Erebus and Mount Terror would break up and clear
away north, he determined, after consulting with Captain
Crozier, to trace the course of the great barrier for some
distance towards the east, and then to renew the attempt
to reach the magnetic pole by sea. On this day, the 2nd
of February, the vessels reached the southernmost point
attained during the southern summer of 1840-1 in latitude
78 4’ S., and about longitude 173° 20’ W. The ice barrier
was here about 125 feet high, and extended as far as
eye could see to the east and west; the face of it was
probably in latitude 78° 15’ S. The course east-
wards was, therefore, continued, and on the 5th of
February a W. longitude of nearly 167° was reached in
latitude 77° 18’ S., but the ice was found so closely
packed that the vessels could make no way, and had
some difficulty in extricating themselves towards the
west. As soon as this was accomplished Ross steered

100 LHE VANTAR CLIC:

a southerly course along the edge of the pack-ice, on the
7th and 8th of February, passing a berg with a large rock
frozen in, and at midnight the ships were again near the
ice barrier. Here they saw an indentation towards the
east—the only bay worth naming, and, as the heavy
pack-ice lay at some distance to the north, it was possible
to approach the ice cliffs within a quarter of a mile.
These here showed a very striking conformation, for
while the height of the cliffs was 150 feet, the projecting
peninsula of ice ended in a cape 170 feet high, and the
connecting isthmus between the two elevations attained
only a height of scarcely fifty feet. This lower portion,
therefore, afforded a favourable opportunity of viewing
the upper surface of the enormous mass of ice from the
mastheads, and it appeared perfectly level and smooth.
From every projecting point of the ice-cliffs gigantic
icicles depended, a proof that it occasionally thaws,
which would not suggest itself with a midday mid-
summer temperature of only 14°F. In consequence of this
low temperature and the sheltered position, young ice
formed so rapidly that the ships were in danger of being
enclosed. Fortunately, the breeze, aided by the strenu-
ous exertions of the crews in breaking up the ice, was
strong enough to enable the ships to regain a freer
space. Scarcely had this been accomplished, when the
west wind set in; had this occurred half an hour earlier,
the expedition, wedged in between the barrier and the
pack-ice, would have been enclosed and compelled to
winter there.

The ships now took a course to the northward until
latitude 76° S. was reached. Their passage was greatly
obstructed by pack-ice and young ice, while the severe
cold of the north wind quickly froze and closed all
openings and channels in the pack, driving it southwards.
A violent snowstorm set in on the 12th, during which
the ships barely weathered an extensive chain of very

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 101

large icebergs, probably aground. The thick falling
snow prevented their seeing any distance, and the waves
moreover, as they broke over the ships, froze as they fell
on the decks and rigging, and covered all, even the
men’s clothing, with a thick coating of ice. When on
the 13th of February the weather cleared, and it became
evident that every further examination of the pack-ice
was fruitless, Ross determined to make one more attempt
to reach the magnetic pole, and to seek a harbour in
which to pass the winter. Nearly three weeks had
elapsed since they had come nearest to the pole at
Franklin Island, and it seemed reasonable to hope that
the pack-ice to the N. and N.W. of Mount Erebus had
in the main drifted off to the north. On the 16th of
February the great volcano again came in sight, and
the weather growing very clear it was evident that
Erebus and Terror were connected with the main land
(Victoria Land), and were not on islands, as had at first
been conjectured. To the west of Cape Bird, a deep
bight extended to the west, the shores of which could
be distinctly traced connecting Mount Erebus with the
westernmost point of Victoria Land reached by the ships
in latitude 76° 12’ S. and longitude 164° E: Ross had
attempted to penetrate the tough, newly-formed ice
coloured by an infinite number of rust-brown diatoms,
in an effort to reach the west side of this bight, when
he came upon such heavy closely-packed ice as to cause
him to desist when within ten or twelve nautical miles of
the low coast. This involved their giving up at the same
time the anticipated exploration of a low point of land
with an islet off it, which seemed likely to afford a
suitable harbour for wintering in. There was no pros-
pect at that advanced season that any more of the land
ice would break away, and consequently no chance of
reaching the coast and finding a secure refuge for
wintering in. Ross therefore relinquished the attempt

102 THE ANTARCTIC.

to approach nearer to the magnetic pole, which he
calculated was only 160 nautical miles distant, as the
magnetic dip was 88° 40’. The cape with the islet off
it, which had seemed suitable for winter quarters, received
the name of Cape Gauss.

At a great distance from the low coast line, a range
of mountains was seen. These were of great elevation,
and evidently the connecting range between Mount
Melbourne and Mount Erebus. They received the
name of Prince Albert Mountains, in honour of the
Prince Consort, while the whole extensive tract of
country had already been called Queen Victoria Land.
There was nothing left but to retrace their way through
the pack and the young ice into the open, and the
success of the laborious work seemed very problematical,
for the young ice had increased in thickness very fast.
When the breeze freshened, the vessels were able to
make some way ; at other times the boats were lowered
and the young ice broken by rolling them, for the surface
was not strong enough to support a party of men to saw
a passage for the ships. In this way they at length
emerged into clear water on the morning of the 19th
of February, and hastened northward, keeping, as far as
possible, near the edge of the ice. This already extended
so far to the east that the coast line between Cape
Gauss and Mount Melbourne, or more correctly Cape
Washington, entirely disappeared below the horizon,
while the chain of the Prince Albert Mountains re-
mained constantly in sight far away in the west. Near
the edge of the pack-ice either an island or a large berg,
covered with rock and débrzs, was passed, and named
Doubtful: Island, as it was impossible to ascertain its
true character. Even Mount Erebus remained in sight
clearly above the horizon, in spite of its being 150 nauti-
cal miles distant, and while Mount Melbourne was again
in view. To the north of this lofty summit the pack

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 103

formed a much narrower belt off the coast, so that it was
possible to approach the land much nearer than in January.
A passage between the land and Coulman Island was
nevertheless not practicable, and as Ross resolved to
make an attempt to land at Cape Adare, and _ the
coast to the north of Coulman Island had been examined
on his passage south, he stood towards the cape without
delay. But even here a near approach was impossible,
because a dense body of ice already extended to some
distance from the shore, and Ross therefore determined
to follow the coast along the Admiralty Range to the north-
west as far as was possible. In this they were success-
ful as far as the extreme point named Cape North, from
which the land appears to trend to the south-west. The
closed young ice here intercepted further progress to the
westward, and the coast by Cape North was once more
carefully examined in the hope of finding a suitable har-
bour for the ships to winter in. In this hope they were
disappointed, for the indentations of the coast were
everywhere completely filled with glaciers, and the coast
consisted of perpendicular ice cliffs, varying from two to
five hundred feet high, and before them a chain of
stranded icebergs of great extent. Ross, however, spent
several days narrowly examining this northern portion
of Victoria Land, and in clear weather, on the 24th of
February, he was so fortunate as to see that, although
the land extends from Cape North in a south-westerly
direction, a barrier of ice stretches due west from the
cape to the horizon, corresponding in appearance to
the formidable barrier to the east of Mount Terror.
After the relations of the north coast of Victoria
Land had thus been made plain, the leader of the expedi-
tion resolved to steer northwards, and in this way to
determine whether any land lay between Balleny Isles
and Cape North. On the evening of the 28th of Febru-
ary Victoria Land sank below the horizon at a distance

104 THE ANTARCTIC.

of eighty miles, and on the following night the Aurora
Australis was seen for the first time On the 2nd of
March, land was seen to the W.N.W., apparently two
islands, which Ross named Russell Peak and Smith
Island. An attempt was made to approach them, but
the ice was so dense that the mere attempt was attended
with difficulty and danger, and a speedy retreat was effected.
On the 3rd of March, the land was nearly veiled by
clouds, but it reappeared quite distinctly in the S.W. and
was easily recognised, bythe peculiar form of Russell Peak,
as the land previously seen; from this position it was
evident that there were three islands; and the third was
named Frances Island. Ross found that the position of
the group was approximately latitude 67° 28’ S. and
longitude 165° 30’ E., and this circumstance leads to the
conjecture that these were possibly the Balleny Islands,
even although the position given by Balleny varies con-
siderably from that of Ross. The weather was too bad
and the vessels too far distant from the land to allow of
Ross making an accurate and satisfactory observation,
but he was certainly of opinion that the two groups were
close together. After this sight of land he crossed the
Antarctic circle, steering west in order to come upon the
eastern extremity of the land laid down in the chart of the
‘“¢ Antarctic Continent” sent him by Wilkes. The 5th of
March was a splendidly clear day, and land of any elevation
could have been seen at a distance of seventy nautical
miles, but nowhere was anything to be seen, so that Ross
concluded that Wilkes and his men, being novices in
polar regions, had been deceived by the appearance of a
bank of clouds. This opinion seemed confirmed on the
following day, when far to the S.S.W. of Mount Erebus,
an indication of land was seen, exactly in the direction of
the Balleny Isles, now distant seventy or eighty nautical
miles, and besides this the vessels actually sailed over
the place where Wilkes had laid down land in his chart.

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 105

Not content with this investigation, Ross was de-
termined to spend the rest of the summer, or rather
the short autumn of the south polar regions, by making
an approach to the place where, according to Gauss,
the South Magnetic Pole lay. At the same time, he
had not the slightest hope of reaching the spot itself,
for the lateness of the season and the condition of the
ice rendered the attempt impracticable. For this pur-
pose he steered west and south-west as far as. meridian
146 E., continuous magnetic observations being made.
The highest latitude attained was 65° 10’ S. on meridian
144 56’ E. After the line of. no variation had been
determined in these higher latitudes, the vessels shaped
their course for Hobart Town, which was safely reached
on the 6th of April. As far north as latitude 54° S. the
nights had been illuminated by splendid displays of
the Aurora Australis, and the last iceberg was seen in
faertude.5;3°':30' 5.

The first. task Ross set. himself on his arrival in
Hobart Town was to refit and prepare his vessels. On
examination it was found that they had sustained scarcely
any injury during their long and arduous polar voyage.
It was also found that their stores and provisions of
every kind were in good preservation, and that nothing
had suffered from the great differences of climate passed
through, a proof of the care and thoroughness with which
the equipment and provisioning of the expedition had
been carried out. Best of all, the voyage had been free
from sickness or casualty of any kind, and every in-
dividual of both ships returned in perfect health and
safety, thanks to the unceasing care of their commander.
Their stay in Hobart Town lasted till the 7th of July, the
time being filled up with eager scientific examination of
the island in many directions; among others, Ross was
occupied with fixing a permanent mark for showing the
mean level of the ocean, in accordance with suggestions

106 THE ANTARCTIC.

made by Alexander v. Humboldt. Leaving Hobart or
the 7th of July, the ships reached Sydney on the 14th.
Their stay here till the 5th of August was principally
occupied with simultaneous magnetic term observations.
To complete his task, Ross then went to New Zealand,
where he lay in the Bay of Islands, near the northern
end of the northern island, from the 17th of August to.
the 23rd of November, waiting here until the season
should be sufficiently advanced for a fresh start for the
high southern latitudes. On the date named, the ships
weighed anchor, and on the 30th of November sighted
Chatham, or Warekauri, Island, though they were unable
to land owing to the stormy weather. On the 16th of
December they met with their first icebergs in latitude
58° S. and longitude 147° W., five degrees further north
than the previous summer, but decidedly further south
than bergs were first encountered by Cook and Biscoe in
these regions. Ross had kept to an eastward course
thus far on account of his terrestro-magnetic observations,
but on reaching the meridian of 146° W. he determined to:
change his course to due south. He expected to dis-
cover land from the low latitude in which the first
icebergs were met, and, in any event, to reach the eastern
point of the great ice barrier, so as te resume his explora-
tions of the previous summer where they had been
interrupted. The circumstance that but few icebergs
were seen during the day after their first appearance,
and that the vessels attained a latitude of 61° 3’ S. on
meridian 146° 3’ W., caused Ross to hope that the pro-
gress south would be rapid. On the evening of the same
day, however, a strong ice-blink appeared in the sky to the
south-east, and announced the neighbourhood of pack-ice,
and early on the next morning, the 17th of December,
the main pack was reached. As the edge seemed pretty
open Ross at once ran into the pack, but after penetrating
about thirty nautical miles, the ice became so heavy that.

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 107

further progress became impossible, and he was compelled
to steer to the south-west. The struggle with the ice,
which was constantly drifting north, continued till the 2nd
of February, 1842, when in latitude 67° 29’ S. and longi-
tude 159 1’ W. the vessels at length emerged into an
open sea. They had been compelled to make their way
step by step for forty-eight days in the face of appalling
difficulty and with ceaseless labour, and while thus en-
gaged in forcing a passage south they were constantly
carried northward by the pack. Several times, while in
the close pack-ice and surrounded by icebergs in addition,
they weathered violent gales, in one of which, on the rgth
of January, 1842, both ships suffered severely, especially
the Zerror. Her rudder was completely destroyed, and
it was, therefore, necessary to fit a spare rudder with in-
calculable exertion while she lay in the midst of the ice.
While the ships themselves had advanced only 375
miles in the fifty-six days during which they were involved
in the pack-ice, Ross estimated the breadth of the belt of
pack-ice which had drifted past northwards at no less than
1,000 nautical miles. The greatest disadvantage connected
with the tedious crossing of this enormous belt of pack-
ice arose from the great loss of time, for while Ross in the
previous year had reached as far as the eastern extreme
of the great ice barrier by the 2nd of February, he had
this year not even reached the 68th degree of S. latitude,
and it therefore became imperative to press forward
south, lest the summer season should be altogether lost.
Meanwhile it was as yet impossible to keep to a due
southerly course, as the pack edge still trended south-
west. It was not till the 16th of February that the ex-
treme western point of the pack was rounded in latitude
75 6’ S.and longitude 172° 56’ E., enabling the ships to
steer south-east, and on the 22nd of February, shortly
before midnight, the great ice barrier again came in sight.
No stay near it could, however, be made; the young ice

108 THE ANTARCTIC.

was rapidly thickening again and the belt of broken frag-
ments of pack and icebergs was closely cemented together
in an impenetrable mass at the foot of the ice barrier. In
the course of the 23rd they were within one and a half
nautical miles from the face of the barrier, surrounded by
icebergs and heavy pieces of ice covered with stones,
raising the hope that land would soon be seen. The
ice barrier itself was here distinctly different in appear-
ance from that observed the previous year farther west.
Its outlines were more broken and full of indentations,
the elevation, too, was different from that previously
noted. It was found that the height was here only 105
feet above the sea, and this decreased towards the east
to eighty feet, though it rose again farther east. The
southernmost point reached by the vessels, a point that
has remained the Azghest southern point of the earth
attained to this day, was latitude 78° 10’ S. and longitude
161 27’ W., while the face of the ice cliff lay one minute
further south.

Ross attempted to penetrate along the barrier to the
eastward, and had the satisfaction of getting a view of
the surface when he came to the lower part of the face.
It was seen that it gradually rose to the south till it
presented the appearance of lofty snow-covered mountain
ranges. Although Ross and his companions were fully
persuaded that they saw elevated land, he put it down
only as “an appearance of land,” lest some subsequent
navigator should prove him to have been mistaken.
From this point, however, all further progress to the east
of the barrier had to be relinquished, for it here diverged
to the north-east and the main pack pressed against it,
and an immediate return was decided upon, especially as
the winter was already setting in, with great severity at
these high latitudes. Ross therefore sailed back north-
wards, and it was soon evident that the south-western edge
of the pack-ice was still extending from south-east to

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 109:

north-west, though in the higher latitudes it was situated
considerably farther east than in the middle of the month
on the voyage south. As it was, the westernmost point
of the pack reached longitude 180° W. in latitude 70° S.
After this point had been reached Ross steered
directly northward, for he had resolved to approach
Cape Horn along the 60° parallel, if possible, and then
to round it and make for the Falkland Islands with the
object of wintering there. This course had the ad-
vantage of being the shortest, and of affording Ross the
opportunity of completing his magnetic observations in
high latitudes. On the 6th of March the Antarctic circle
was recrossed on meridian 170 W., after a period of
sixty-four days within it, a period that must be regarded
as exhibiting one of the most heroic and difficult achieve-
ments in the whole history of south polar navigation.
Three days later the 60th parallel of southern latitude
had been nearly reached on meridian 156° W., and as
little or no ice had been seen for some days, Ross,
thinking the vessels safe, and anxious to gain time,
ventured upon running all night. The whole expedi-
tion came within an ace of perishing in consequence
of this sense of security, for during the night, from the
12th to the r3th of March, just as Ross, warned by
small driving blocks of ice, had made every arrangement
for rounding to during the night, a large iceberg was
seen through the heavy snow shower ahead of the Zredus
and close to it. The vessel was immediately turned,
but the next moment it was seen that a collision with
the Zerror was unavoidable. The EZveéus lost her
bowsprit and topmast through the shock, and the two
ships, entangled by their rigging, were violently dashed
against each other in the huge breakers raging and
foaming against the berg. At length the Zervor got
clear, and finally the Avebus was extricated, by an ex-
tremely hazardous expedient, from her perilous situation,

110 THE ANTARCTIC.

where her yard-arms were actually striking the face of
the iceberg. Scarcely had this been accomplished when
a second berg was seen to be quite close, but by another
skilful manoeuvre the ship was brought through the
channel between the two bergs, and under their lee,
where the Zervor had already rounded to in safety.
At daybreak it appeared that the ships had safely es-
caped through the only opening in a chain of icebergs
extending right across the horizon. After this perilous
adventure the two vessels steered on eastwards with
favourable winds and without any important event,
passed Cape Horn on the 2nd of April, and on the
6th of April reached the Falkland Isles. Here they
cast anchor in Berkeley Sound before Port Louis, which
was at that time the principal settlement in the group
of islands.

The five months’ stay in the Falkland Isles came
to an end on the Sth of ‘September. “It had beem
utilised for making terrestro-magnetic observations, and
as Ross wished to obtain further observations near Cape
Horn, the vessels steered on this course as their first
destination. On the 19th of September Cape Horn
came in sight, and on the evening of that day the ships
anchored in St. Martin’s Cove, a favourable harbour
in Hermito Island. After completing their magnetic
labours, and marking the level of the sea, St. Martin's
Cove was left on the 7th of November for the Falkland
Islands, which were reached on the 13th of November,
and a stay of a month entered upon. After the usual
scientific observations had been made, and the mean
level of the sea fixed by a mark, the ¢#zrd voyage to
the high southern latitudes was begun on the 17th of
December. For this voyage Ross had arranged a
double, or rather an alternative, plan. He intended
first to attempt a southern course on meridian 55 W.,
for he hoped in this manner to reach the probable south-

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 111

eastern continuation of Louis-Philippe Land, where the
open water between the coast and the pack-ice might
enable him to penetrate still further to the south or
south-east. If this proved impracticable he determined
to reach the south by following Weddell’s track further
east. Steering towards Clarence Island, which could
not be seen owing to the thick weather, the first iceberg
came in sight in latitude 61° S. and longitude 52° 10’
W. On the following day the ships were surrounded
by numerous icebergs, and the same afternoon they
came upon the edge of the pack-ice in latitude 62° 30’
S. and longitude 52° W. The pack appeared tolerably
open, but, as before stated, Ross was desirous of reach-
ing the open water on the coast without delay, and he
felt obliged to avoid the danger of getting the vessels
beset in the pack-ice by steering along its edge to the
west. On this course the icebergs everywhere were for
the first time seen thawing and in a state of rapid dis-
solution, a process that had not been observed on the
two previous voyages. On the 28th of December the
east coast of Joinville Land, not previously seen, came
in sight. An outlying small but lofty islet was named
Etna Islet from its striking resemblance to the Sicilian
volcano. The land was mostly covered with ice and
snow, and in one place a huge glacier, several nautical
miles in breadth, descended to the sea from a height
of 1,200 feet, ending in a vertical cliff 100 feet in height.
Further south a number of low, rocky islets were en-
countered off the coast, the Danger Islets, of which the
southernmost, discovered on the 29th of December, and
about 600 feet high, received the name of Darwin Islet.
Ross was desirous of avoiding these dangerous islets
and cliffs, as well as a vast number of stranded icebergs
in their immediate vicinity, but the heavy pack-ice very
soon compelled him to seek the coast. On the next day
it was seen that the southern extreme of Joinville Island

112 THE ANTARCTIC.

is situated in latitude 63° 30’ S., and that the coast. ex-
tended thence to the westward. A wide gulf opened
in this direction, surrounded by ice and snow-covered
land on the north, west, and south-west. To the north
rose Mount Percy, the highest summit on Joinville
Land, with an elevation of 3,700 feet above sea-level.
To the north-west it appeared that there was a channel
between Joinville Island and Louis-Philippe Land. It
was impossible on account of the ice to penetrate into
the wide bay that had been named Erebus and Terror
Gulf, and thus Ross had to content himself with steering
along the margin of the ice to the south-west.

On’ the ast of January, 1343, the ships were
latitude 64° 14’ S. and longitude 55° 54’ W., where a
beautiful view of the land lying to the south and south-
west was obtained in fine, clear weather. To the west
towered Mount Haddington, 7,000 feet high, the highest
summit of this region, and like nearly all the others of
volcanic origin. Not far from its foot rises a precipitous
island, named Cockburn Island, with a height of 2,760
feet, and a diameter of barely twice that measurement.
For five days the vessels cruised in this region, now sur-
rounded by ice, now deprived of all outlook by dense
fog. At length on the 6th of January Ross landed on
Cockburn Island, and took formal possession of it in the
usual manner. The island was found perfectly clear of
snow, and to be of volcanic formation; and the assistant
surgeon of the Fyvedus (subsequently the renowned
botanist, Dr. Hooker) was able to collect nineteen
species of plants growing there. It lies at the entrance
to a deep bay, formed by Mount Haddington in the
west, and Seymour Island and Snowhill (about 2,000
feet high) in the east. After sailing round the latter,
it was found that Mount Haddington forms the southern
extremity of Louis-Philippe Land, united to Snowhill |
by an enormous mass of glacier ice. The whole western

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 113

and southern side of Snowhill Island was enclosed by a
low belt of ice, and in the neighbourhood of the land,
evidently stranded, were clustered gigantic icebergs,
some from four to five nautical miles in diameter, and
200 feet high. From these enormous dimensions Ross
concluded that they must have come away further south
from some loftier barrier than any he had yet seen in
this reigon of Antarctic country. A further advance along
the south coast of Snowhill and Louis-Philippe Land was
found to be quite impossible, for fixed land-ice extended
along the coast, and to the west, south and south-east,
as far as eye could see. A struggle to penetrate the
pack to the east led to the ships being beset by the close
pack from the gth of January till the 4th of February.
Moreover, in its northward drift, the pressure of the main
pack against the land was very great, and the formation
of young ice in the water previously open was very rapid,
rendering it quite unnavigable. The ships were fre-
quently exposed to very severe ice pressure, and it was.
not till the 4th of February that they emerged into open
water in latitude 64° S. and longitude 54° W.

The attempt to penetrate southwards close to the
land, and in this way to make new discoveries, had,
therefore, to be finally relinquished, and Ross was thrown.
back on the alternative plan he had made for this third
Antarctic voyage, that of following Weddell’s course. He
therefore beat to the eastward along the pack edge,
which lay on the whole between 64° and 65° of S.
latitude ; on the 12th of February land was apparently
seen in latitude 65° 10’ S. and longitude 48° 30’ W., but
it seems to have been very doubtful, since Ross does
not mention it in the account of his voyages, and has.
only entered it on his chart. On the 14th of February,
in latitude 65° 13’ S. and longitude 4o° 50’ W., Weddell’s
return track was crossed, but the ships were unable to
penetrate the dense, heavy pack; they therefore con-

414 THE ANTARCTIC.

tinued their progress along the edge to the north-east,
until the northern extremity was reached on the 22nd of
February, in latitude 61° 30’ S. and longitude 22° 30!
W. Soon after it became possible to press forward to
the south, and after Ross had entered the Antarctic circle
on the ist of March, in longitude 8° W., in a) com>
paratively open sea, he again, on the 5th, met with the
heavy pack, in which the holes and channels were already
covered with newly-formed ice. The highest latitude he
succeeded in reaching was 71° 30’ S. in longitude 15°
W., not quite three degrees short of the latitude achieved
by Weddell 18° farther west, but two degrees higher than
the point reached by Bellingshausen 13° farther east.
The advanced season and the unfavourable condition of
the ice imperatively demanded an immediate return north,
and after the ships had weathered another furious storm,
on the edge of the pack on the 6th and 7th of March, the
Antarctic circle was recrossed for the last time on the rith
of March. Ross had determined to ascertain accurately
the exact position of Bouvet Island on his return voyage
to the Cape of Good Hope, and consequently held a
N.N.E. course, but all his efforts to find it remained as
unsuccessful as those of Cook before him. The last
iceberg was seen on the 25th of March in latitude 47°
40’ S. and longitude 10° 51’ E., and on the 4th of April
the ships anchored in Simon’s Bay. They left again
on the 30th of April, and after touching at St. Helena,
Ascension, and Rio de Janeiro, and staying some days in
each, the expedition reached Folkestone on the 2nd of
September, 1843, after an absence of nearly four years.
The vessels and their crews were in a perfectly sound
and satisfactory condition, and of the 152 men who had
started only one did not return. This was the quarter-
master of the yvedus, who fell overboard and was
drowned during a gale off Cape Horn the previous year.

The voyage of James Clark Ross, of which a short

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 115

account has thus been given, must be regarded as one
of the most brilliant and famous of all voyages of dis-
covery that have ever been made. It is certainly remark-
able that, as compared with other travels and voyages,
that of Ross should be so much less universally popular.
While the achievements of such men as Barth, Nachtigall,
Livingstone, Stanley, Wissmann, in Africa, and jn higher
latitudes, to name only a few, Parry, Franklin, Kane,
Weiprecht and Payer, and Nansen, have excited the
greatest and most widely-spread enthusiasm and interest,
the voyages of the younger Ross in the Antarctic regions
have never attained the wide appreciation they deserve,
however high the estimation in which they have always
been held by the-scientist. The reason of this 1s,
doubtless, to be found in the fact that for the public
the greatest element of interest is invariably to be found
in man himself, and that for the larger number of readers
the chief attraction in travel centres in the contact with
new tribes, whether on the equator or near the pole ;
nor is the account of the life led by explorers in their
own narrow circle during the isolation of the polar winter
found to be less attractive. Descriptions of this sort
are entirely absent from Ross’s Zvavels: his south polar
voyages were dedicated entirely to scientific research in
desolate tracts; they were made in vast regions unin-
habitable by man, and consequently devoid of the element
most eagerly sought after by a public always on the alert
for something new. Perhaps it is not beyond the mark
to say that this lack of human incident, coupled with
an ignorance of the actual problems of scientific polar
navigation and discovery, have co-operated to retard
and check an intelligent interest in polar exploration.
In the domain of science the results of Ross’s travels
constitute, not so much a revolution as the first strictly
accurate data for modern geographical reasoning, to say
nothing of our extended knowledge of the distribution

116 THE ANTARCTIC.

of land and water in the Antarctic regions. The principal
task, that of reaching the southern magnetic pole of the
earth, remained undischarged ; it was a problem to which,
in the utter absence of a suitable harbour in which to
winter, there practically was no solution. On the other
hand, Ross succeeded in determining and locating this
pole with extreme accuracy, and, moreover, the magnetic
observations constantly and conscientiously carried on in
the most difficult and adverse circumstances afford such
a mine of information, that to this day the material for
our knowledge of the magnetic conditions of higher
southern latitudes is almost exclusively drawn from it.
But besides his terrestro-magnetic researches, scarcely a
single branch of physiography was neglected by Ross ;
on the contrary, all were considerably extended by him.
His meteorological observations still retain the greatest
value, and in addition to the study he made of the con-
dition of the air in regard of temperature, moisture and
density, he gave equal attention to the temperature of
the sea. At times numerous soundings were made to
ascertain the temperature and specific gravity of the
water at various depths. That these have become
worthless was no fault of Ross’s, and must be attributed
to the imperfections of the deep-sea thermometer of
those days. The soundings still give the data for con-
clusions concerning the bed of the ocean for vast regions
in the Antarctic seas. In like manner the observations
made by Ross on the condition of the ice of the
Antarctic regions still remain invaluable in the study
of physiography.

That he added enormously to the previous knowledge
of south polar exploration by his discovery of Victoria
Land, and by his course along the great ice barrier for
hundreds of miles, attaining the southernmost point of
the globe as yet seen by the eye of man, need scarcely
be insisted upon here. And although he was not so

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 117

fortunate as to set foot on the newly-discovered con-
tinent, or, to speak more modestly, on this enormous
mass of land, he was able by means of his voyage to
prove that in two places in the highest southern latitudes
land covered with mountains of volcanic origin exists,
and among them one volcano in an active state of
eruption. The voyages of Ross also contributed to the
extension of biological science by his deep-sea dredging,
proving, what appeared not only amazing but incredible,
the existence of living coral insects in the depths of the
icy southern polar seas. And, lastly, he contributed to
the industrial welfare of his fellow-creatures by the dis-
covery of countless numbers of whales in high latitudes,
as well as of islands thickly covered with the guano
of the penguin, which may in the future become as
valuable and important as the kryolith pits of Greenland.
And above all, Ross has shown the world what may be
achieved in those inhospitable regions by a competent,
energetic leader, and has proved it with ships that had
no power of self-propulsion, spite of all their excellence
and fitness. If any man deserves to be regarded as the
hero of Antarctic exploration surely it is James Clark
Ross.

VOYAGES AFTER ROSS UP TO THE PRESENT.

THE great period of south polar discovery came to an
end with the return of Ross from his third Antarctic
voyage, and all that has been achieved since can soon
be told. The first event worthy of mention is the
voyage of an American, William G. Smiley, captain
of a seal-hunting vessel, one of the very few that con-
tinued to hunt along the nearly depopulated coasts of
the South Shetland Isles and of Palmer Land. His
voyage is contemporaneous with the second voyage of
Ross, as he landed on Deception Island in February,

118 THESCAN TARCLIC:

1842. Here he had the good fortune to find a self-
registering thermometer which had been placed there by
Captain Foster in 1829, and which indicated a minimum
temperature of — 5'08° F.'; the index being somewhat out
of order had failed to register the maximum temperature.
The most important result of the voyage, however, was
the verification of the fact that Graham’s Land and
Palmer Land were not joined together; for Smiley,
according to his instructions, sailed completely round
the latter, thus becoming the forerunner of the German
navigator, Captain Dallmann, in the discovery of Bismarck
Straits.

Far more important than the voyage or voyages of
Smiley is the enterprise of the Pagoda, commanded by
Lieutenant Moore. As Moore had received instruc-
tions to make magnetic observations south of the 6oth
parallel of latitude, and between meridians 0’ and too’ E.
longitude, where none had been made by Ross, Wilkes, or
Dumont d'Urville, his voyage may be regarded as comple-
mentary to that of Ross. Moore left Simon’s Bay on the
oth of January, 1845, met his first iceberg on the 25th in
latitude53° 30 Si and longitude 7, 30’ E., but fwasyas
unsuccessful as either Cook or Ross in finding the
Bouvet Islands. Parallel 60° S. was crossed on the
30th of January, in longitude 3° 45’ E., and almost simul-
taneously such heavy pack-ice was encountered that
Moore was compelled to steer S.E. instead of S.W.,
more especially as the edge of the pack could be seen
far away to the south. A peculiar rock was here ob-
served, a mass of about 165,000 cubic feet, the summit of
which was covered with ice and showed no movement,
while a heavy surf beat all around it and the rock itself
bore visible traces of the action of the breakers. Moore
immediately took soundings, and it seemed as if the

1 The original gives 20°6° C., which has been translated as — 20°60.
[THE TRANSLATOR. |

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 119)

bottom was reached at a depth of 1,150 feet, but the rapid
course of the vessel rendered a repetition and verification
of this measurement impossible. On the 5th of February
the Antarctic circle was crossed in longitude 30 45’ E.,
and on the 11th the highest latitude attained during the
voyage, latitude 67° 50’ S. and longitude 39° 4o’ E., was
reached, but at the same time such heavy pack-ice was
encountered that further progress south was out of the
question. Land, or indications of it, was not seen, pro-
bably in consequence of the dense fog. For some time
Moore attempted to approach Enderby Land, but was.
hindered and thwarted by violent storms from the south-
east, so that he was compelled to take a course towards.
the north, frequently hard pressed by the numerous and
huge icebergs. Up to the 1oth of March, where the
parallel was crossed in longitude 98° E., Moore remained
in latitude 60° S.,and then he reached latitude 64° 15’ S., but
one degree east of the spot where the Challenger twenty-
nine years later attained her highest southern latitude.
As the vessel had suffered somewhat severely, and the
ice in latitude 55. S. and longitude 110° E. rendered
further progress south-east impossible, Moore steered
north, and reached King George’s Sound in Western
Australia on the rst of April.

This was the last voyage in Antarctic regions for close
upon twenty years ; meantime discoveries were made in
the region of the drift-ice. Dougherty Island, found by
Captain Dougherty in 1841, in latitude 59° 20’ S. and
longitude 119° 45’ W., was first declared to be merely an
iceberg, but it was subsequently seen and verified by
Captain Keates in 1859. The scattered groups of the
Heard and Macdonald Islands, between latitude 53° 1’
SHand53ie1455.,,and longitude727 32 and 73 53 0E.,
were discovered and rediscovered by a number of navi-
gators, more particularly by the eminent German physio-
grapher, Georg Neumayer, though first seen by Captain.

120 THE ANTARCTIC.

Heard in November, 1853. The cause of the peculiar
and remarkable phenomenon that so many merchantmen
took their course through these desolate and isolated
waters just at that time is to be found in the fact that
the course to Eastern Australia and New Zealand lay
along the lower parallel, a course that led past the Heard
Islands. At a subsequent period it was abandoned owing
to the great dangers to be apprehended from icebergs.

A lull, therefore, set in both in Antarctic discovery and
in the utilisation of the natural wealth of the Antarctic seas
till the summer of 1873-4, when a German navigator,
Captain Dallmann, with the ship Gvéxdand, encouraged
and sent out by the German Society for Polar Naviga-
tion, again sought the waters of Bransfield Straits
and the neighbouring region. The charts of these seas
were considerably altered and modified by Dallmann’s ex-
plorations, more especially in the western portions. He cir-
cumnavigated Trinity Land and proved its inconsiderable
extent to the south ; he also showed that Palmer Land is
separated from Graham’s Land by a broad channel, the
Bismarck Straits, with the group of Kaiser Wilhelm
Islands at its western extremity.

This renewed interest in the Antarctic regions was
entirely due to the indefatigable energy of George Neu-
mayer, now the eminent director of the German Naval
Observatory. With the assistance of King Maximilian
II. of Bavaria he made his second voyage to Australia
in 1856, in order to found and direct an observatory for
maritime meteorology and terrestro-magnetism, the Flag-
staff Observatory at Melbourne. Even at that time he
was entirely convinced ef the absolute necessity for Ant-
arctic exploration, not only in the interests of universal
physiography, but more particularly in the development
of the two before-mentioned subsidiary sciences. Thus,
he, in 1864, began a long course of lectures, addresses
and scientific articles on Antarctic exploration, first in

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 12]

Australia and subsequently in Europe. It is to be
regretted that his efforts and exertions were productive
of no result beyond establishing a complete unanimity
of opinion in the scientific world ; the means for carrying
out an expedition were not forthcoming in Germany ;
neither the State, nor scientific societies, nor private
endeavour, seconded Neumayer’s unceasing activity. At
length, after nearly twenty years, the Challenger, com-
manded by Sir G. Nares, set out on a cruise south of
Kerguelen Island, as advocated by Neumayer, continuing
his course through the opening between Enderby Land,
Kemp Land and Wilkes Land. This course had always
been recommended by Neumayer as likely to be success-
ful, because no vessel had previously attained a latitude
much beyond 64° S., and it was known that between
meridians 60° and go’ E. only a remarkably small number
of icebergs had been observed. This seemed to indicate
a warm current setting southwards, rendering a progress
towards the pole comparatively hopeful. It was pro-
bably in consequence of the impetus given by Neumayer
that the celebrated “Cruise of the Challenger” was
entered upon in the southern summer of 1873 and 1874,
destined to garner such full and such remarkable results
for our increased scientific knowledge of everything
connected with the geography of the Antarctic regions.
The expedition undertook an exhaustive scientific in-
vestigation of Kerguelen Island and of the Heard
group, and then sailed south in order to complete their
researches in deep-sea dredging in Antarctic waters. An
actual voyage of discovery had not been planned ; in-
deed, the Challenger herself had not been fortified for
ice navigation, or even for any long stay in the drift-ice.
On the 11th of February the vessel left Corinthian Bay
on the east of Heard Island, and on the same day, in
latitude s6@0s3e@ Ss: andvlonsitude 73° 30° E-, thesfirse
iceberg was seen, though not followed by many others

122 THE ANTARCTIC.

until the 13th of February. On the 14th of February
the icebergs became very numerous, and the vessel ran
into the open pack-edge in latitude 65° 30’ S. and
longitude 80° E.; this closed in completely towards the
east on the next day, but appeared more open towards
the south. Sailing along the edge of the pack, a latitude
of 66° 40’ S. was attained on the 16th of February, and
the Antarctic circle, therefore, crossed in longitude 78° 30’
E., the expedition meantime being favoured with very
clear weather, in spite of which no land was seen. Nares
now steered east in order at least to sight the western
extremity of Wilkes Land, and reached latitude 64° 18’
S. in longitude 94° 47’ E., without hindrance from the
pack-ice, though here again it made its appearance. On
the 25th of February the Challenger was able to approach
to within fifteen nautical miles of the assumed position of
Wilkes’ Termination Land, but, spite of clear weather,
no land was visible either to the east or to the south.
Nares now held his course north and north-east, and after
weathering several severe storms in the ice saw his last
iceberg on the 4th of March, in latitude 53° 17’ S. and
longitude 109° 23’ E., and reached Melbourne on the
17th of March.

Although the time spent in the Antarctic Polar Seas
was remarkably short, and no actual discovery was made,
the observations made of the temperature, the salinity, the
depth and the sediment at the bottom of the sea, as well
as of the minute forms of marine life, nevertheless remain
the most important in their results of any that have been
made in higher latitudes. The same remark holds good of
the investigation into the nature and the size of icebergs ;
nay, it may even be affirmed that the few days spent by
the Challenger in the higher latitudes have, thanks to
improved methods, contributed more to our knowledge on
these subjects than all the previous expeditions put to-
gether. It is, therefore, a matter of surprise, in the face

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 123

of such striking results, that, if the Belgian expedition
under De Gerlache be excepted, no second undertaking
of the kind should have been set on foot. Since the
absolute necessity for Antarctic exploration has been in-
sisted upon on all sides, more especially in England and
and in Germany, as essential to an extended knowledge
of scientific physiography, it is certainly most remarkable
that not even a similar short advance should have been
undertaken, to say nothing of a fully-equipped South
Polar Expedition. It is true that the great International
Polar Exploration during its year of activity secured two
stations for observations in the southern hemisphere,
but one was in Tierra del Fuego, in latitude 55° S., and
the other, the German one, was situated on the north-east
coast of South Georgia in Royal Bay, in latitude 54° 30’
S. The results attained by both were highly important,
and advanced the investigation of terrestro-magnetism
no less than that of meteorology ; nevertheless both were
too far distant from actual South Polar regions, and in
other directions they could not possibly compensate for
the absence of exploration and research in high latitudes.

Ten years passed away before the idea of a voyage
to Antarctic waters again arose, but not this time in the
interests of science. The results of the whale fishery in
the Arctic seas had for a long time steadily fallen off ;
indeed, some of the more important kinds of whales had
nearly died out owing to the ruthless havoc made by
steamers from the northern whaling stations equipped with
harpoon guns. In consequence of this, two Scotch
whaling captains, David and John Gray, published a
memorial in which they dwelt on the large number and
gigantic size of the Greenland, or very similar, whales
observed by Ross in the waters to the east of Louis-
Philippe Land. This suggestion fell on good ground,
and in the beginning of September, 1892, four ships
belonging to the Dundee Whale Fishing Company left

124 THE ANTARCTIC:

their native harbour for the whale fisheries in the
waters indicated. Two of the ships carried thorough
and scientifically trained medical men, Charles W.
Donald, on board the Active, and W. S. Bruce, on
board the alexa, both amply provided with scientific
instruments by Leigh Smith, the eminent Arctic navi-
gator, and the Mecenas of polar exploration. Burn
Murdoch, the artist, also embarked on board the Badena.
The vessels first sailed for the Falkland Islands, quitting
them again at the beginning of December, and hunting
for whales, but without adequate success. Their course
was constantly east and south and south-east after leaving
Joinville Island and Louis-Philippe Land. The only
addition to previously ascertained topographical know-
ledge made by this expedition was the verification of the
chart, made by Ross, of the southern outlines of Joinville
Island, and of the channel, thirty miles long and from
two and a half to five miles wide, separating the island
from the mainland. Captain Robertson of the Acd/zve
circumnavigated the whole island by means of this
channel, which was tolerably free from ice, and named
it Dundee Island. The channel he called Firth of
Tay in its broader half extending in a south-easterly
direction, the narrower south-western end receiving the
name of Active Sound. The coast lines of the Erebus
and Terror Gulf were also more accurately laid down
than had been possible to Ross. Dr. Donald also
effected a landing in Active Sound on the shore of
Joinville Island. On the whole, the condition of the
ice seems to have been highly favourable, but the main
object of the voyage prevented any thorough investiga-
tion of the land, clearly proving that a whaling expedition
cannot be utilised as a voyage of modern exploration.
The meteorological observations made during this voyage
were so far valuable that they established the facts that
in this Antarctic region south and south-east winds

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 125.

play an important part, and that in these somewhat
northerly latitudes the maximum temperature of the
southern midsummer is a very low one. The observa-
tions made of the icy covering of the land, which was
closely approached, also verify what had been previously
ascertained, though in higher latitudes. Towards the
end of February the Dundee whalers again left these
waters, the last iceberg being seen by the Actzve on the
25th, near Elephant Island, in very nearly the same
latitude as that in which the first had been sighted near
Clarence Island on the 18th of December.

The Dundee vessels had not been alone in their
undertaking of the southern summer of 1892-3. The
Norwegian whaling steamer /ason, commanded by
Captain Larsen, and commissioned by the Hamburg
Oceana Association, had appeared simultaneously in the
same waters. This was the same vessel that had taken
Nansen to the east coast of Greenland for his celebrated
journey across the country. Larsen had arrived at the
same time as the Scotchmen, and had also left the un-
profitable seas at the same time, but had kept a somewhat
different course. He had sailed by the South Orkney
Islands, on one of which he landed, steering south, con-
siderably to the east, therefore, of the other ships. From
Seymour Island to the west of Mount Haddington, where
a landing was effected, valuable fossils were brought, and
Dr. Donald considered that Captain Larsen manifested a
lively interest in discovery. While the Scotch vessels,
disappointed in their attempt to meet the profitable whale-
bone whale in southern waters, gave up all further effort
in the icebound Antarctic seas, Larsen left the harbour of
Sandefjord, on the 12th of August, 1893, commissioned
by the Oceana Company to make a second attempt in
seeking out the Dirk Gerritz Archipelago. He was
accompanied by the /Zertha, commander Captain Even-
sen, and the Cas¢ov, under Captain Pedersen. On the

126 THE ANTARCIMG,

gth of November the first iceberg was seen in latitude
60 59 S. and’ longitude: 57 a12"W. | thengassouthedy
course was taken, steering close to Elephant Island, con-
stantly surrounded by drift-ice, which towards the east
grew more and more like pack, especially in latitude 638°
to 644° S. On the 16th of November the vessel was
near Seymour Island, upon which a landing was made ;
but Larsen from this point steered east, seeking for seals
along the edge of the pack-ice. He continued this course
till the 23rd of November as far as longitude 47° 32’ W.
in latitude 63° 22’ S., when, discouraged by his ill-success
in seal-hunting, he returned to the west as far as longitude
53. W., in order subsequently to steer due south-west.
In the face of numerous huge icebergs, the highest lati-
tude attained by Ross in January and February, 1843,
was soon crossed, the sea being nearly free from. ice.
Land was distinctly seen in the west in clear weather,
and on the evening of the 29th of November open
water was everywhere seen to the south after crossing
the 65th parallel of southern latitude. On the rst of
December the ship was near the fixed ice by which the
newly-discovered land was surrounded. Larsen named
it King Oscar I]. Land, and a mountain partly free from
ice at its foot was called Jason Mountain ; its eastern
promontory, three or four miles distant from the ship
while in latitude 66° 4’ S. and longitude 59° 40’ W., was
named Cape Framncees. On the days following, the
Jason continued her southerly course along the ice barrier
enclosing the coast line. On the further side the ice-
covered land rose gradually and without any inequality
of surface towards the interior. After the Antarctic circle
had been crossed on the 3rd of December, the vessel,
steaming along in sight of land, attained its highest lati-
tude of 68° 10’ S. in longitude 59° 59’ W. on the evening
of the 6th of December. Owing to the dense, unbroken
ice encountered here, it became impossible to continue

HISTORY OF. DISCOVERY. 127

the southern course along the coast, or, more correctly,
along the ice barrier. The land, however, still extended
beyond the horizon to the south, rising gradually from
the coast to a good elevation in the interior, and entirely
covered with snow.

As the course southwards was stopped by ice, and
the open water along the coast through which the /asoxz
had made her way was considerably encroached upon by
the pack-ice towards the east also, Larsen began his
return along the edge of the pack, again approached
Cape Framnees, and now explored the region between
King Oscar Land and Louis-Philippe Land. Wetter
Island had been previously seen on the return voyage in
a bay south of Jason Mountain and Foyn Land to the
west of it. Both had been concealed by fog on the
voyage south. To the north of King Oscar Land a
chain of islands, the Seal Islands, extending from
south-east to north-west, was seen, the easternmost,
Robertson Island, being the largest. Two outlying
islands to the north proved, to Larsen’s surprise, to be
active volcanoes, which had partly covered the neigh-
bouring ice with their erupted matter. Larsen landed on
tthe eastern one, Christensen Volcano, without, however,
reaching the interior, which was free from snow, and
-was well able to look down upon the western one, the
Lindenberg Cone. Beyond this group of islands the
sea, always excepting its surface of ice, seemed open
and without any more islands, so that Palmer Land and
Trinity Land would thus be reduced to an archipelago
of comparatively small extent. On the 12th of December
he steered farther north, past Snow Land, and on the
14th he met the Castor and the Hertha. All three
vessels now took their course by the South Shetland
Islands to Tierra del Fuego and thence to the Falkland
Isles, where they landed the proceeds of their expedition,
and took in fresh coal in order to go south again and

128 THE ANTARCTIC.

continue their seal-hunting. This second undertaking
during the southern summer of 1893-4 only took
Larsen into the waters surrounding Joinville Island, and
added nothing to his observations as an explorer in these
regions. On the 16th of January he had started from
Port Stanley in the Falkland Isles, on the 12th of March
the 6oth parallel of latitude was re-crossed on the
return voyage, and on the 15th of March Port Stanley
was again reached.

If Larsen thus became the discoverer of the probable
east coast of Graham’s Land, and verified its great ex-
tension to the south, Evensen no less could point to
important results achieved by the //ertha. He had
sighted the South Shetland Isles on the 1st of November
and seen his first iceberg on the same day in latitude
61° 56’ S. and longitude 58° 32’ W., while sailing south
south-west and south-west and afterwards passing Decep-
tion Island and Low Island. Here he steered along the
Biscoe Islands, and was surprised by the the unusual
circumstance that no ice was seen from the 3rd to the
oth of November. On the goth of November the Ant-
arctic circle was crossed, on the roth Adelaide Island was
sighted, drift-ice being met at the same time, and on
the following day the edge of the pack lying east was
encountered. Evensen steered south along this edge as
far as latitude 68° 18’ S. and longitude 73° 41’ W., which the
vessel reached on the 12th of November. Now he again
steered north, and again along the Biscoe Islands, then
through the northern portion of the group to the east,
and then south on the western side, attaining his highest
latitude of 69° 10’ S. in longitude 76° 12’ W. without any
hindrance from ice. Alexander Land came in sight on
the 22nd November ; it was surrounded by pack-ice, but
unfortunately we hear nothing of any observations con-
cerning its highly probable connection with Graham's

ran)

Land. Again Evensen steered to the north-west on the

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 129

western side of the Biscoe Islands, passed through the
Bransfield Straits and the waters to the east of Joinville
Island, where, as already stated, he fell in with Pedersen
and Larsen, and sailed with them to Ushuaya in Tierra
del Fuego and to the Falkland Islands. He, too, made a
second voyage to the waters of Joinville Island in the
second half of January, returning to the Falkland Islands
in March, and to Norway in the beginning of July.

Both voyages, that of the 7er¢ha and, more especially,
that of the /ason, are decidedly the most important since
those of Ross for the extended knowledge of Antarctic
geography. The most surprising fact in the experience
of both vessels is the remarkable absence of obstructing
ice in the waters they visited, especially if the time of
year be considered. The November of the southern
hemisphere corresponds to the June of the northern, a time
in which all progress in southern waters is generally stopped
by dense pack-ice. And it cannot be argued that the ice
in the south was perhaps not detached so early in the
season, thus blocking the sea to the north later on, for
it does not appear that Larsen and Evensen found any
change worth mentioning in the condition of the ice on
their second voyage south in January.

In the same year, 1894, in which the vessels of the
Hamburg Oceana Company had returned home, a Nor-
wegian ship set out from Melbourne for the south. This
was the steam whaler Axtarctic, belonging to the well-
known shipowner, Svend Foyn of Christiania, with a
record of twenty-three years’ service behind her. A
young Norwegian naturalist, C. Egeberg Borchgrevingk,
was on board as common sailor, for in his enthusiasm
for South Polar exploration he had first resolved to ship
as a passenger, only to find his scheme impossible. His
description of his voyage, though not contributing much
that is new, nevertheless contains some interesting parti-

culars. The Antarctic left Melbourne on the 20th of
9

130 THE ANTARCTIC,

September, and sailed past Macquarie Island without
meeting any whales, to the Campbell Island, where a
landing was made. In the beginning of November the
first icebergs were seen, and on the 6th a vast mass of
ice was sighted in latitude 58° 14’ S. and longitude 162°
35 E., which extended from east to north-west for a
distance of from forty-five to sixty-five miles. It was
impossible to determine whether this was a continuous
mass or only a chain of closely-wedged icebergs. On
the same day it was discovered that the ship’s screw was
out of order, and it was, therefore, necessary to return to
Port Chalmers (Dunedin on the southern island of New
Zealand), which was reached on the 18th of November.
A fresh start was made south after leaving Stewart Island
on the 28th of November, and on the 7th of December
the Antarctic again reached the edge of the pack-ice. On
the next day the vessel was forced into the ice in latitude
62° 45’ S. and longitude 171° 30’ E., and came in sight
of the Balleny Isles on the 14th of December, where the
pack-ice proved to be impenetrable even for the steamer,
which was, indeed, quite closed in. After a thirty-eight
days’ course through the pack-ice, open water was reached
on the 14th of January, 1895, in latitude 69° 55’ S. and
longitude 177° 50’ E., and on the 16th Cape Adare was
already in sight. On the 18th the Az/arctzc first cruised
along the coast to the north-west, then to the south,
where it was possible for Borchgrevingk to effect a
landing on Possession Island, and to make as accurate
an investigation as his short stay allowed. The most
interesting find made here was that of a lichen, the
southernmost land plant yet known. The voyage was now
continued till on the 22nd of January, in latitude 74° S.
and longitude 171 15’ E., the most southern point was
reached near the southern extremity of Coulman Island.
It would, doubtless, have been possible to penetrate still
farther south without difficulty, but as no whales were to

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY. 131

be seen, the captain resolved to return, and to make for
Cape Adare, which was reached next day. The weather
was remarkably clear and glorious, the lofty summits of
Victoria Land, radiant in their their icy mantle, shone
with magic beauty in the midday and midnight sun, and
everywhere gigantic icebergs lay near the coast. During
the night of the 23rd January a party landed on a low
tongue of land running north from Cape Adare, the first
human beings to set foot on the Antarctic continent, or at
least the most extensive land mass of the Antarctic regions.
Borchgrevingk collected specimens of the stones at hand,
found the same lichen as on Possession Island, and then
returned to board the Antarctic. This was accompanied
with some difficulty as the ship was almost entirely out of
sight, and the boat was obliged to struggle for several
hours through the drift-ice. The Axtarctic now steered
north, ran into the pack again on the 26th of January, in
latitude 69° 52’ S. and longitude 169° 56’ E., emerging
after cutting her way through for six days, and finally
reached Melbourne on the 4th of March, taking a good
catch of whales on the way.

This voyage closes the history of Antarctic explora-
tion, as the results anticipated by the Belgian expedition,
which left Antwerp under De Gerlache in the Belgzca
on the 16th of August, 1897, are not yet published.
This survey indicates what parts of the Antarctic
regions have principally been visited, and sums up how
much or how little has been achieved by each attempt.
It will be the aim of the subsequent pages to gather
into a whole the results of all these explorations so far
as their fragmentary nature renders such a task possible.

132 THE ANTARCTIC,

Ill CONFORMATION “OF ("THE SURBACE
AND. GEOLOGICAL SERUCTURE

Ir has been seen in our survey of Antarctic exploration
how land has been gradually found in South Polar
regions, and almost entirely during the present century ;
also how the conception of a great Terra australis tn-
cognita has been proved to be equally erroneous with
the conjecture that no land whatever, or of only trifling
extent, was to be found; so that the whole Antarctic
region might be regarded as one vast southern sea, in
which the three great oceans of our globe mingle their
boundless waters—an opinion defended by Florien in the
last century, and by Petermann and Peschel in this. It has
been proved, on the contrary, that extensive masses of land
exist near the Antarctic circle and to the south of it, and
other circumstances, pre-eminently the distribution of the
winds and of the drift-ice, point to the probability that con-
tinued exploration will lead to extended discovery of land.

If we look at the map of the regions round the South
Pole, it is obvious that the land—always excepting the
smaller isolated islands lying to the north of the 6oth
parallel of south latitude—falls into three clearly defined
groups. Within these the contiguity of the land seen and
discovered at various times leads to the conjecture that
it is connected, and that certainly in a wider sense it may
in each instance be regarded as forming a geological whole.
These three groups, already noticed in the chapters on
the situation and limits of Antarctic countries, are :—

1. Peter I. Island, Alexander Land, Graham’s Land,
the Dirk Gerritz Archipelago, the South Shetland, and
the South Orkney Islands.

2. Enderby and Kemp Land.

CONFORMATION OF THE SURFACE. 133

3. Wilkes Land, the Balleny Isles, and Victoria Land.

Within the limits defined at the outset, the island of
South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, the Bouvet
Islands, and Dougherty Island are also to be found. Be-
yond the extreme belt of the pack-ice, on the other hand,
lie the Marion and Crozet Islands, Kerguelen and Heard
Island, as also Macquarie Island and Campbell Island ;
these latter, therefore, are not taken into account.

If now the situation of the Antarctic groups of land
be compared with that of the continents lying partly or
entirely to the south of the equator, a striking fact is at
once perceived. The two most extensive masses of Ant-
arctic land hitherto discovered lie under almost the same
meridians as South America and Australia with New
Zealand, in both instances somewhat to the west, and
both approaching the opposite continent in peninsular
conformation. Moreover, just as South America projects
furthest south of all the continents, so the Dirk Gerritz
Archipelago and the South Shetland Islands extend
farthest north beyond the Antarctic circle, separated
from South America only by the comparatively narrow
Drake’s Straits. In other respects, also, comparisons
might be drawn between the masses of land thus lying
opposite to each other, as shown in an exceedingly in-
teresting, though merely theoretical, work by Hans Reiter.
For instance, just as the coast of Wilkes Land appears
to be a duplicate of the Australian coast, not only in hori-
zontal outline, but also in vertical structure, so the
gigantic mountain range to which the coast of Victoria
Land rises seems to correspond to the mountain chain
of New Zealand ; while the volcanic southern extremity
of the Cordilleras of South America finds its counterpart
in the broken and scattered island masses, also bearing
active volcanoes, to the south of Drake’s Straits. Whether
it is reasonable to assume that this external resemblance
corresponds to some internal structure, or is even based on

134 THE ANTARCTIC:

some direct connection, later discovery and careful investig-
ation on the spot alone can determine. The subject will
again be approached. For the present we turn to consider
the conformation of Antarctic lands, and the geological
structure with which the surface is so intimately connected.

Before entering upon this quest, it will be well to
pause and realise how far it is possible to deal with the
subject, and to consider to what extent the observations
hitherto made on the spot supply matter for drawing up
a summarised account of the countries of the Antarctic
regions. The result of such consideration must prove
discouraging. All the voyages hitherto made have by
their discoveries scarcely added more to our knowledge
than the determination of coast outlines, and the state-
ment of the elevations along the coast lines, but neither the
one nor the other is even remotely complete or scientifically
accurate. The sketch of the history of discovery only
too frequently shows that ice prevented all such approach
to the shore as would have allowed the details of the
coast to be ascertained with any degree of certainty,
and, in like manner, frequent dense fogs probably shut
out the view of land that might perhaps otherwise have
been seen: © In the tsame manner, the valuevormthe
measurements made of high land is greatly diminished
when regard is paid to the heaving of the vessel and
to its distance both from the coast, and the mountain
summits of whose height an approximate estimate was
made. It must be remembered that even the heights given
by Ross, who surpasses all others in accuracy, were cal-
culated from angles taken on board from different positions
of the ship, and these very positions could not be deter-
mined with perfect accuracy on the heaving sea. An
error of a few seconds in the astronomical observation
would be productive of an important error in comput-
ing distant heights. If the representations of Antarctic
countries on our maps and the measurement of their

CONFORMATION OF THE SURFACE. 135

height above sea-level are thus unsatisfactory, and only
to be accepted as average or approximate, how much
less do we know about their geological structure? It
is only necessary to remember that no landing what-
ever was effected on the whole coast of Wilkes Land,
and that Victoria Land offered an opportunity only on
one circumscribed spot; Enderby, Kemp, Alexander
and Graham’s Land have been seen only from afar ;
portions of the Dirk Gerritz Archipelago have certainly
been landed upon in isolated spots, but without any
sufficient investigation being possible. We shall see
that the South Shetland Isles have been visited and
that crews have wintered there, but all this was on the
part of wholly uneducated seal-hunters, without a trace
of scientific aptitude or knowledge. We have a tolerably
satisfactory knowledge only of Deception Island in the
above-named group, and of Royal Bay in the island of
South Georgia, but for the rest are dependent on the
accounts of discoverers who were either entirely unin-
structed or conversant only with the meagre outlines
of the undeveloped science of petrography during the
first half of the century. The specimens from which
observations—such as they are—were made, consist
of such stones as were found ready to hand, or brought
up in the dredging-net, or taken from the stomach of
some animal. It is, therefore, no wonder that the follow-
ing pages will contain but little of an account of the
structure of Antarctic lands. Rather will they indicate
the chasm which yawns across the collective knowledge
we possess of our planet, a void to be ascribed to the
neglect of South Polar exploration.

In treating of the several groups of land, we shall
purposely start with the entirely isolated group of the
Bouvet Islands in the South Atlantic, since they have
not the remotest connection with any other Antarctic
islands and lands. Next, we shall turn west to South

136 THE ANTARCTIC.

Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, then continue
the investigation of the land south of Drake's Strait.
Turning west again, we shall come upon the regions of
Victoria Land and Wilkes Land, and conclude with
Kemp Land and Enderby Land.

1. THE BOUVET ISLANDS.

On every map of the southern half of the Atlantic
Ocean a narrow submarine ridge runs south beyond 40°
S. latitude, almost along the same meridian. On this lie
the solitary and lonesome islands of Ascension, Tristan
dAcunha, Gough or Diego Alvarez Island, and a few
smaller ones. Continuing a line due south, a greater
depth is again indicated, though not in figures based on
actual soundings. It is, therefore, not impossible that
the submarine elevation is again continued further south,
and in its extension serves as base also for the volcanic
group of the Bouvet Islands, situated to the south-west
of Gough Island.

The peculiar part played by the Bouvet Islands is
already known from the history of discovery ; their first
discoverer, Bouvet, took them to be the promontories of
the great southern continent, yet they remained concealed
from Cook, Ross, and Moore ; meantime they were twice
re-discovered by English whalers in 1808 and 1823, and
their existence, therefore, proved. All three discoverers
of the Bouvet Islands have assigned different positions
to them, and it is difficult to reconcile these reports,
especially as these reports helped neither Ross nor
Moore to find the islands at all. According to Bouvet,
the western extremity of the land seen by him lay in
longitude 4° 30’ E., according to his colleague Hay the
longitude was 4° 15’ E., while Bouvet made the latitude
54 S., and Hay 54° 6’ S. Bouvet described the land
as extending from the cape in an E.N.E. direction for a
distance of from twenty-four to thirty nautical miles,
while the length of the coast to the south-east seemed

BOUVET ISLANDS. on

to be eighteen to twenty-one nautical miles. From north
to south the island was about twelve to fifteen nautical
miles long. The land was on the whole high, and
covered with snow in its more elevated parts, but in
the south-east it descended rather low. The coast had
many small indentations, but was so steep as to be
nearly unapproachable. As it was, Bouvet’s ships could
not get nearer than twelve to fifteen nautical miles, as
the coast was surrounded by dense pack-ice. In con-
sequence of this, and of the dense and frequent fogs, it
was impossible for Bouvet to obtain a clearer image of
the natural features of his discovery.

Lindsay, who saw land considerably earlier, as far as
the season is concerned, places the middle of the island
seen by him in latitude 54° 22’ S. and longitude 4° 15’
E., and gives it an extension of about fifteen nautical
miles east and west. He, too, found it covered with
snow, and, like Bouvet, he describes the eastern end as
low and the western as very high and steep. He tried
to approach the island, but was prevented by the ice
‘closely surrounding it. This extended three nautical
miles on the west side, but on the east (the lee) side
the ice had a breadth of twenty-one to thirty-four miles.
Bouvet, like Lindsay, thought he noticed trees, or, at
least, shrubs, in places free from snow, probably the
tussock grass, so widely spread over sub-Antarctic islands.

Finally, Norris, who in 1823 discovered land and
landed on it, gives so different a position and descrip-
tion that one must assume that either his predecessors
had calculated the position of their discovery most in-
accurately, or had found an altogether different island,
since Norris declares he saw not only one but two
islands, besides several rocks. The middle of the first
of these, which he named Liverpool Island, lies ac-
cording to him in latitude 54° 15’ S. and longitude 5°
E., extends nine to twelve nautical miles north and

138 THE ANTARCTIC.

south, is elevated and uneven in the north, low in the
south, high and snow-clad in the middle. The coast
was steep and, therefore, not fitted for landing upon.
At a distance of forty-five nautical miles to the north-
east of this island, in latitude 53° 56’ S. and longitude
5 30’ E., lies Thompson Island, and four to five nautical
miles to the south-west of this three isolated rocks, the
Chimneys, with a fourth, three nautical miles farther
south. As the crew of one of the boats was weather-
bound for six days on Thompson Island, some account
of it is given, though very short. According to this
the island consists of a volcanic mass, the rocks falling
perpendicularly to the sea, with the exception of one
place in the south-west. The surface shows streams of
obsidian with layers of pumice-stone interspersed. Of
the vegetation nothing is said, neither is reference made
to the extent or the height of the island, or to any other
detail that might have been expected.

If these three accounts be compared, the first parti-
cular attracting attention is that the latitude of the dis-
covery of Bouvet, as well as that of Lindsay, is not far
removed from the latitude that Norris assigns to his
Liverpool Island. Bouvet gives 54° to 54° 5’, Lindsay
54 22’, and Norris 54° 15’ S., therefore midway between
the other two explorers. It must be borne in mind
that Norris not only evidently had brighter weather
than Bouvet or Lindsay, but he was provided with
better instruments, and could, therefore, lay down the
position more accurately ; it is, therefore, not unreasonable
to assume that all three saw the same island. Another
argument for this view can be drawn from the fact that
both Bouvet’s vessels apparently saw land on the 8th
and: ‘oth of vJjanuary, 11739; to theN.N:E.wioft@ane
Circoncision, exactly in the direction, therefore, in which
Norris's Thompson Island was seen from his Liverpool
Island. Two items remain which apparently tell against

ISLAND OF SOUTH GEORGIA. 139:

the assumption that the three discoveries were identical
tie appearance andthe size.) Whevlatter 1s greatest
in Bouvet’s account, while the appearance is described
exactly like the appearance by Lindsay, elevated in the
west, flat in the east, while Norris describes it as high in
the north and low in the south. In a previous work’ the
author has explained the extraordinary circumstance that
neither Ross nor Moore succeeded in finding the island
group, by the conjecture that it no longer exists. It may
have disappeared owing either to a submarine subsidence,
or, what is far more probable, to a fresh volcanic eruption,
like that of Krakatao. And even if such a conjecture
cannot be entirely upheld, a fresh eruption would account
for its changed appearance and dimished extent. In the
same place it was pointed out that the peculiar ridge of
rock resembling the terrace on which surf beats, which
Moore saw in latitude 60° 45’ S., longitude 4° E.—there-
fore near the meridian of Bouvet Island—might be the
last vestige of a vanished volcanic island. Be that as it
may, in any event it is greatly to be desired, as Ross has
already emphasised, that the circumstances should once
for all be fully investigated from the Cape, especially in
the matter of taking numerous and accurate soundings, and
thus to establish either the continued existence of the
islands or the existence of a submarine bank in their place.

2. THE ISLAND OF SOUTH GEORGIA.

As early as Bellingshausen’s time the idea came into
existence that South Georgia, as well as the group of
the South Sandwich Isles, is probably intimately con-
nected with South America. Bellingshausen held that
all these islands belong to a mountain chain which was
supposed to extend by the Aurora rocks—which probably
have no existence—right across to the Falkland Islands.
Hans Reiter, who has already been referred to, has

1 Fricker, Ursprung und Verbreitung des Antarktischen Treibeises.

140 THE ANTARCTIC.

latterly taken up another theory, holding that South
Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands might be
links in a chain extending to the Dirk Gerritz Archi-
pelago from the South American Cordilleras. The con-
ception is so interesting that it is worthy some attention,
more especially as many circumstances seem to point to
an intimate connection between the two regions.

It is well known that the west coast of South America
is formed by a gigantic chain of mountains, the Andes or
Cordilleras. These are two parallel chains of corrugated,
rocky strata, extending from north to south, of which
the westernmost, consisting of rock belonging to a later
geological period, forms a chain of rocky islets off the
Chili coast from Puerto Montt, while the eastern, con-
siderably older and more elevated, forms the true crest
or dorsum of the double chain. In the region of the
western outlet of the Straits of Magellan, however, the
outer chain diverges from its previous direction of north
to south, towards the south-east, and terminates, after
running due east and E.N.E., in the rocky Cape of
St. John at the eastern end of Staaten Island. According
to E. Suess the whole range enclosing Tierra del Fuego
and forming the belt of islands off its coast, is a continua-
tion of the western mountain range, and not a continuation
of the main range of the Cordilleras. It has just been stated
that this ends in Staaten Island, but if we examine a more
detailed map—best of all, a sea-chart—we find in the
extension of the island east and north-east, and at a
comparatively small distance from it, a widely extended
submarine bank, Burdwood Bank, over which the waters
are less than 600 feet deep and diminish to only 140
feet, while half way between Staaten Island and the bank,
a depth of 1,250 feet has been sounded. The principal
direction of Burdwood Bank is from west to east, and
extends perhaps 250 miles, while its breadth at its widest
is approximately only forty-five miles. It seems more

ISLAND OF SOUTH GEORGIA. 141

than probable that this elevation in the bed of the ocean
is closely connected with the Cordilleras, since it is not
easy to imagine a continental ridge other than a pro-
longation of these, or a piled-up mass of non-volcanic
origin. Proceeding from the Burdwood Bank towards
E.N.E. the direction leads to the isolated cliffs of the
Shag Rocks, rising above the depths to a height of 140
feet in latitude 53 49’ S. and longitude 43° 26’ W.
Weddel assigns only a height of forty-five to sixty
feet to the Shag Rocks, and describes them as three
cone-shaped rocks surrounded by a reef. We reach
these rocks, however, if the direction of the western
extremity of South Georgia is pursued, so that the
possibility of this island being causally connected with
the Cordilleras is perfectly credible. The eastern ex-
tremity of South Georgia turns to the south-east, and
its extension is perceived in the Clerkes Rocks, numerous
rocky islets which again lie in a continuation of the same
line to the Traversey Islands, the north-western members
of the volcanic South Sandwich group. The group again
does not extend in a line parallel to the meridian, but in
a wide curve open to the west, so that the southernmost
islands again extend to the south-west.

In regard of its extension the whole group bears a
strong resemblance to the Lesser Antilles, and if we con-
tinue the comparison South Georgia would correspond
to Puerto Rico or to Haiti in regard of situation. It is
well known that the Lesser Antilles represent the inner
zone of the Central American Cordillera chain, here sunk
in the ocean depths with the exception of the summits of
its volcanoes, while the Greater Antilles, together with the
islands lying east of the volcanoes of the Lesser Antilles,
represent the non-volcanic zone. This range of the
Cordilleras passes by way of the island of Trinidad, here
extending west, and reappears on the continent as the
Cordillera of Venezuela. If an equivalent is sought

142 THE ANTARCTIC.

in the volcanic South Sandwich Isles it is found that
if a sweep of the range from south-west to due west
be presumed, the imaginary continuation would light
upon the South Orkneys, and, beyond them, on the
South Shetlands, terminating in the Biscoe Islands lying
off the coast of Graham’s Land. If later investigations
should really prove successful eventually in establishing
the causal connection which has here been set up as
imaginary and hypothetical, then the close relation of
at least oxe group of Antarctic countries with the great
leading feature of the contintental structure of the globe
would be made manifest, the repetition of the great sweep
of the Antilles would place these Antarctic countries in
direct communication with the gigantic mountain-frame of
the Pacific basin. The acceptance of sucha theory is not
entirely to be rejected, for although very little is known of
the geological structure of the South Polar regions, yet
what is known of South Georgia points to the inference
of an approximation to the rocks of the Cordilleras.

It has been necessary to discuss these points in some
detail, so as to throw into relief the importance and signi-
ficance of South Georgia in any estimate of the probable
geology of the whole south-western region of the Atlantic
Ocean. We will nowturn to a consideration of the island
itself.

Although South Georgia belongs to the earliest
Antarctic discoveries, even if no regard be paid to its
questionable discovery by Amerigo Vespucci, although
the north-east coast was laid down as completely as
possible by Cook, and the south-west coast by Bellings-
hausen, and although finally the German South Polar
station remained there nearly a year, little is accurately
known of even the mere outline of the island. Indeed,
on the arrival of the German corvette J/oltke, it was
found impossible to recognise the bays laid down and
described by Cook. It is, therefore, necessary to premise

ISLAND OF SOUTH GEORGIA. 143

that the positions indicated in the map are not even now
absolutely correct, those in the neighbourhood of Royal
Bay excepted.

South Georgia, as is shown on the map, is a long
island, extending on the whole from west north-west to
east south-east. The uniform direction is not altered by
the few islets off the coast, so that both the eastern and
westernmost promontories are found on them. In the
west this occurs on Willis Island, situated, according to
Bellingshausen, in latitude 54° 4’ S. and longitude 38°
22’ W., and in the east on Cooper Island in longitude
36 34’ W., according to Cook. The most northern

Map of South Georgia (after Stieler’s Hand Atlas).

point is Cape North, in latitude 53° 57’ S., near the
western extremity, the most southern South Cape, in
Jatitude 54 57’.S., near the eastern extremity. The
greatest extent of the island may be taken to be 105
to 110 miles, the average breadth fifteen: miles, the
greatest breadth twenty-five miles or more. In many
parts, however, the breadth is very considerably less,
for bays of fjord-like character make deep indentations
on both coasts, more especially in the west where,
according to Weddell, two bays approach from opposite
sides to within five furlongs of each other. | As. these

144 THE ANTARCTIC.

indentations are insufficiently known, it is not as yet
possible to state the extent of the land area. Including
the fjords the total area of the group may be estimated
at 1,560 to 1,700 square miles, to which the outlying islets. ¥
contribute very little. How far the submarine base
extends, z.e., the ocean bed at a depth of less than 600.
feet all round the island, is not known up to the present
time ; Cook gives a sounding of only 225 feet at a distance
of nearly five miles from shore, near Possession Bay,
on the north-east coast, but on the other hand 650
feet were given at the same distance from Cumberland
Bay.

Between Willis Island, the extreme western outpost,
and the main island, Vogel Island, small and _ level,
interposes in the two and a half miles’ wide channel
separating the two. From this point the coast runs.
north-east and east to Cape Buller, to the east of which
Possession Bay is found. The bay takes its name from |
the landing effected there by Cook when possession was.
taken of the island. Island Bay, Cape Saunders, and
Cumberland Bay follow, succeeded by Royal Bay be-
tween Cape George and Cape Charlotte. From this.
point the coast, which extended from Cape Saunders to
the south-east, changes its direction to the south, forming
Sandwich Bay near to the South East Cape, off which
an island, Cooper Island, is situated, and extends to South
Cape. From this cape, before which three low level
islands, one Green Island, are situated, the coast extends.
to Cape Kuprianow and forms Novoselskji Bay, before
which, at a considerable distance from the shore, Pickersgill
Island lies, accompanied by two smaller islands. Next
comes St. Mary’s Bay, smaller and formerly frequently
visited by seal-hunters; then a long straight coast line
with Annenkow Island off it, and the last section of the:
south-west coast appears to be most deeply indented with
fjords. Near the western extremity of the island lies

ISLAND OF SOUTH GEORGIA. 145

Adventure Bay, followed by the channei between Willis
Island and the main island.

Not only the outline, the narrow and extended form,
the deep fjords, point to the fact that in South Georgia
we have before us a portion of a broken and submerged
mountain chain, but the structure of its surface and the
meagre details we possess of the geology of the island
prove such conjecture a certainty. From one extremity
to the other a wild range of mountains fills the island,
rising steep and precipitous from the sea to a considerable
height, and, so far as is known, nowhere descending
to valley or plain of any importance. It appears that
a single principal range forms the backbone, from
which lateral ranges strike out on both sides, but
principally to the north-east; between these the deep
fjord-like bays, before referred to, extend far inland. All
the highest summits appear to belong to the principal
range, and occur especially in the eastern half, where
the altitudes were computed at the German South Polar
Station in Royal Bay. The highest elevations in the
neighbourhood of the station, those of the ‘“‘ Wetterwand,”
approximate to 7,000 feet at a distance of about seven
miles from the coast: much like the Piz Bernina from
Pont Resina in the Rhcetian Alps. Summits rise sheer
from the sea in Royal Bay to a height of 2,300 to 2,600
feet. From one of these mountains, looking west, still
greater elevations were seen in the far distance in the same
region where the highest summits had been observed
from the south coast also. Between the summits of the
range the passes are partly found to be of low elevation,
as for instance in the case of the gigantic Ross Glacier,
which flows into Royal Bay, where the height of the
pass seems to reach only about 1,100 feet. The outlines
of the heights are remarkably abrupt and bold, and they
occur on ridges with steep descents on both sides. But

the circumstance which in addition to its elevations gives
10

146 THE ANTARCTIC.

the island its peculiar character is its extraordinarily
strong glaciation. Wherever it has been possible to
penetrate into the bays, numerous glaciers have been
observed descending. Cook found five in Possession
Bay, from which great masses of ice were constantly
detached and hurled into the sea. In Cumberland Bay,
and in several intervening bays, glaciers were seen in
all directions. Besides the two miles wide Ross Glacier
flowing into Royal Bay, the Weddell Glacier also
descends into it, while in Little Haven close by, the
great Cook’s Glacier makes its way down, and two
others do not quite reach the shore. The glaciation
on the south-west side is even more extensive than that
on the north-east side ; the former being on the windward
coast of the island is therefore exposed in the first instance
to the west winds and their constant precipitation.
Klutschak reports that in the south-eastern part of the
island, exactly opposite the neighbourhood of Royal Bay,
the coast is said to be enclosed by an ice barrier. This
without further testimony seems hardly credible, and
assumes a very different structure of this part of the
island even if the heavier precipitation is taken into
account.

In spite of the enormous glaciation of the land, it
must not be supposed to be completely covered with
ice and snow. During the southern summer of 1882-3
important elevations in the neighbourhood of Royal Bay
lost their winter covering; while, on the other hand, in
particularly sheltered spots, even near the shore, the
snow lay unmelted the whole summer. At the same
time moraines pushed far forward in valleys now free
from ice point to the fact that South Georgia, too,
as compared with its glacial period has undergone a
considerable diminution of its glaciation. That the
glaciers of South Georgia undergo considerable change
within short periods is proved by the Ross Glacier,

ISLAND OF SOUTH GEORGIA. 147

which in the space of a single year retrograded in the
centre of its broad front upwards of half a mile.

With such a decided preponderance of solid pre-
cipitation as takes place in South Georgia, it is not
surprising that the larger part finds its way to the sea in
the form of glaciers. Matters are not quite so bad as
Cook thought in respect of the absence of flowing water,
and his assumption that there is a complete lack of
streams and brooks, nay, even of constantly flowing
sources on the island, has been confuted by observations
made in Royal Bay. It is true there are but few actual
sources ; the character of the subsoil and the enormous
accumulations of detritus brought down by weather,
envelop the slopes to such a height that the water
sinks and spreads, appearing at the foot of the deposits
without channel or flow. The higher glaciers and snow-
fields, on the other hand, feed numerous streams that
have worn ‘“‘Klamms” in the rocks, and it is just in
the lower portions of these ravines and valleys that the
most luxuriant vegetation has developed, so luxuriant that
members of the German Station give accounts of pastures
that reminded them of the glorious pastures of the Alps.

At the beginning of this section it was stated that
the geological structure of South Georgia seemed to
point to a close connection with the Cordilleras of South
America. According to Suess, the extreme eastern spurs
of the Cordilleras of Tierra del Fuego are built up of slatey
rocks, clay slate, mica slate and gneiss. So little is
definitely known of the geological period to which they
belong, that Darwin even designated them changed layers
of the chalk formation. Similar conditions are encountered
in South Georgia. Forster had remarked that at Cook’s
landing place in Possession Bay the surrounding rocks
consisted of bluish-grey slate in horizontal layers, but
no further details were obtained till the time of the
German Station there. In the neighbourhood of Royal

148 THE ANTARCTIC.

Bay there lies on the outside towards the coast, primary
clay slate alternating with layers of phyllite gneiss ; upon
this follows towards the south clay slate alternating with
quartz slate, and in the most southern points, near the
Weddell Glacier, huge yard-deep banks of shale or
(diabas) tufa and (diabas) breccia, as well as true sandstone,
occur. As is shown by the local distribution of these
various rocks, the highest parts of the island investigated
consist of the latest formations. This in itself is in no
way remarkable, but the moment attention is paid to the
stratification the whole aspect is changed. A more or
less inclined tilt, varying from 20° to 70° of the rocky
strata towards the south-west, is everywhere apparent,
therefore counter to the major axis of the island ; the more
acute angles also are found on the coast, the obtuse ones
near the interior. This whole system of stratification
is crossed transversely by slate formations, and Hans
Thurach, the geologist of the expedition, concluded from
this, as well as from the fact that many of the layers
showed only semi-crystalline habitus, that the slates of
South Georgia are metamorphous, z¢., such as have
acquired their character through pressure. Fossils were
nowhere found on the island, and the presence of
amorphous carbon in microscopic flakes, as they have
been found in phyllite, primary clay slate, and quartzite,
is no sufficient proof of previous fossil remains.

The structure of the south coast is not as yet under-
stood; perhaps the island consists of a synclinal fold in
which the trough of the faults would represent the highest
ridge of the mountain range, and on the other side of the
ridge the same rocks would succeed each other in inverted
order ; perhaps, however, there is no structure of faults.
Whatever the facts may be, the investigations hitherto
made have been far too few to allow of even a sketch of
the geological origin of South Georgia ; one fact, however,
is certain, that important structural disturbances will have

SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS. 149

to be assumed, and it is possible that this activity has not,
as yet, entirely ceased. This conclusion may be drawn
from an interesting observation made by Weddell. He
had ascended a hill in Adventure Bay for the purpose of
taking altitudes of the sun ; but, after setting his quicksilver
horizon, he noticed that although the atmosphere was per-
fectly still, and he himself was not conscious of any vibra-
tion, the surface of the quicksilver trembled constantly in a
lively manner, a phenomenon that can only be accounted
for on the supposition that some seismic disturbance im-
perceptible to Weddell himself was taking place. Whether
beside these indications of the structure of the rocks
volcanoes also exist on South Georgia must remain
doubtful. Klutschak. certainly marks some, but these
are so vague and uncertain that much caution is required
before coming to any conclusion respecting actual volcanic
activity.

3. THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS.

The small group of Clerk’s Rocks lying south-east of
South Georgia in latitude 54° 55’ S. and longitude 34°
46’ W., guide us across to the South Sandwich Isles.
This rocky group, consisting, according to Cook, of three
or four rocks, seems to be a remnant of a larger island
gradually abraded and engulfed by the ceaseless activity
of the surf; indeed this inference is suggested by the
existence of a submarine plateau at a depth of only 330
feet spreading beyond the rocks a distance of nearly five
miles, while the depth between these and South Georgia,
according to Cook’s soundings, must exceed 1,000 feet.

As the map indicates, the South Sandwich Isles form
a curve opening to the west, of which the most northerly,
Sowadowskji Island, is situated in latitude 56° 18’ S. and
longitude 27° 29’ W., while the position of the most
southerly, Southern Thule, latitude 59° 26’ S. and longitude

150 THE ANTARCTIC,

O°

27 14’ W., and the most easterly, Saunders Island, is in
latitude 57° 51’ S. and longitude 26° 24’ W. The whole
group, so far as it is known, consists of sixteen islands and
cliffs of greater or less extent, none of them having a
superficial area of any size. Generally several of these
lie pretty close to one another, separated from the next
group by a greater distance. At the extreme north are
the three Traversey Islands, consisting of Sowadowskji,
Ljeskow and Wysokji Islands. The first of these is a
volcano that was in activity at the time of Bellingshausen’s
visit. It rises abruptly out of the sea, for at one anda
half nautical miles from its southern edge no bottom was
reached at a depth of 760 feet. ‘The centre of the island is
occupied by an elevated summit under 1,140 feet high,
according to Bellingshausen’s somewhat vague description
evidently an extinct crater, the south side of which is
remarkably steep and of a red and yellow colour, caused
doubtless by sublimated iron chloride and its further
product iron oxide. The mouth itself, out of which
immense clouds of smoke rose, accompanied by strong
gas exhalations, lay at the south-west end of the island,
which was nearly devoid of snow. The second of the
islands, Ljeskow, lies in latitude 56° 44’ S. and 27° 42’ W.
Its length from N.N.E. to S.S.W. is about two and a
half miles, with a breadth of half that distance. The
southern point bears a blunt cone-shaped mountain, and
at the time of Bellingshausen’s visit the island was com-
pletely covered with ice and snow. The third member
of the group, vzz., Wysokji, in latitude 56° 41’ S. and
longitude 27° 16’ W., is described as circular, steep and
rocky. The next group consists of Cook’s Candlemas
Isles, three in number, of which the first lies in latitude
57 9’ S. and longitude 26° 48’ W., the second, with a
circumference of seven and a half miles, in latitude 57° 10’
S. and longitude 26° 44’ W., and the third, five miles in
circumference, in latitude 57° 11’ S. and longitude 26° 51’

SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS: 151

W.; they are all high and covered with snow. Fifty
miles to the south lies Saunders Island in latitude 57°
51’ S. and longitude 26° 24’ W., attaining a circumference
of about eighteen miles, and appearing high and rocky.

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Map of the South Sandwich Isles (after Dumont d’Urville).
Both Cook and Bellingshausen describe this island as

not completely covered with snow, from which the latter
argued that it is probably affected by volcanic action.

152 THE ANTARCTIC.

Cook observed vegetation at the north end of the island,
suggesting a covering of verdure. Next comes the largest
member of the group, Montague Island, in latitude 58° 27’
S., and like Saunders Island, also in longitude 26° 24’ W.,
an elevated island completely covered with ice and snow,
and with a circumference of upwards of twenty-eight
miles. This island is followed by a small group: Bristol
Island, with three outlying islets to the west, of which
the outer one, Freezeland Peak, has a high conical
summit. The position of Bristol Island is to be found
in about latitude 59 S. and longitude 26° 35’ W. Still
farther south lies Southern Thule, consisting of four lofty
islands and islets, all covered with snow and ice like the
preceding group. Nothing has as yet been ascertained
concerning the structure of these islands, nor indeed of
any of the South Sandwich Islands, with the exception of
Sowadowskji, but it seems reasonable to assume that all
the members of the group are more or less of volcanic
origin, although also containing non-volcanic rocks. The
soundings in the region of these isles are so few that it
is not possible to come to any conclusion respecting the
direction and the breadth of the submarine base, which
it is to be presumed these islands have in common.

4. FHE SOUTH ORKNEY. ISLANDS.

Like the South Sandwich Islands, the South Orkneys
also belong to the least known of the island groups of
the south-west Atlantic, spite of their comparatively low
latitude. They have been seen by but few Antarctic
travellers, and if an acquaintance with their common
coast line is any test, examined by fewer still. With
the exception of Powell, their first discoverer, Weddell
and Dumont d’Urville, no one, not even their last visitor
Larsen, has given a description of the islands; and the
accounts of the three former are exceedingly scanty, and

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SOUTH ORKNEY ISLANDS. 153

contain little beyond a survey of the most important
promontories. The group consists of two larger and
several smaller islands, and is surrounded by numerous
isolated rocks, more or less lofty. The main axis runs
from east to west in the smaller, Laurie Island, and some-
what more to the north-west in the larger, Coronation
Island. Both are separated from each other by a broad
channel, which is itself again divided by two narrow
islands lying north and south, Powell Islands, into
Washington Straits on the east, and the narrower
Lewthwaite Straits on the west. The easternmost and
far projecting point of Laurie Island is Cape Dundas,

in latitude 60° 57’ S. and longitude 43° 55’ W. (Weddell

417° Westl.L.x. Greenw. iE

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Map of the South Orkney Islands (after Dumont d’Urville).

gives. 60 47’ S. and 43° 36’ W.), while the westernmost
projection is in longitude 44° 45’ W. with the same
latitude. The breadth of the island is from nine to
eleven miles, its length from twenty-five to twenty-eight
miles, and the area may therefore be calculated at 235
to 312 square miles. The island is lofty, for several
summits of from 2,200 to 3,000 feet high are mentioned,
but these figures cannot of course be accepted as strictly
accurate. Towards the coast the descents are steep,
with the exception of Cape Dundas in the east, where
it seems lower. All accounts agree as to the nearly
complete glaciation of the island; in many parts the
glaciers reach the sea, and only the very steepest slopes

154 THE ANTARCTIC.

are free from ice and snow. Only near Cape Dundas.
was a small amount of vegetation observed on the rocks ;
Weddell describes it as short turf, while Dumont
dUrville considered it to be lichen. To the north of
the northern end of Laurie Island lie several small
islands, Saddle Island and Weddell Island, as well as.
numerous cliffs. The boats sent off by D’Urville suc-
ceeded in landing on Weddell Island, and short as their
stay was, it was nevertheless of great value to geographical
science, since it was ascertained that this small island
and probably therefore the two larger ones, is not
composed of volcanic rock, but is built up of crystalline
slate, that is to say, “calcaire silicieuse,” and slates which
slope at an angle of 80° from N.N.E. to S.S.W. Quartzite
slate is given instead of the former in another place, and
this is much more probable than a later fresh-water
formation of silicious chalk. Whether this angle indicates.
an actual fall of strata or possible transverse stratification
is not obvious; but it is satisfactory to know that the
geological structure of Tierra del Fuego probably re-
appears so far to the south-east and indeed in undoubted.
disturbed deposition.

After Laurie Island follows, as already indicated,
Washington Straits, separated from Lewthwaite Straits
by the extended chain of the Powell Islands which is.
severed in the middle. Its western shore outlines the
largest member of the group of the South Orkneys,
Coronation Island, so called in honour of the coronation
of George IV. Its easternmost point is situated about
latitude 60° 55’ S. and longitude 45° 20’ W., the western-
most, Cape Return, in latitude 60° 43’ S. and longitude
46 22’ W. Cape Conception projects farthest north, to
latitude 60° 32’ S., while the southernmost point is close
to the most eastern. What has been said of Laurie
Island is equally true of this one, indeed all who have
visited it describe it as yet more wild and desolate in

SOUTH ORKNEY ISLANDS. 155

its characteristics than the South Shetland Isles, The
greatest elevations are found in the east, where a
mountain above 5,000 feet high is said to rise above Cape
Bennett, the north-eastern point of the island; towards
the west they are lower and flatter, all, however, equally
buried in ice and snow. On the east coast a small fyord-
like bay penetrates into the land, Spence Harbour, and
glaciers here descend from all sides. According to
Powell’s account, they nevertheless do not reach the
water, but leave a margin of some feet quite clear, even
apparently at high water. It is otherwise in the north-
west where the mass of ice, gradually descending from a
lower region, forms an abrupt perpendicular ice barrier
as coast line. The island is probably from thirty-seven
to forty miles in length, and has an extreme breadth of
from fifteen to eighteen miles with an area of 560 to 625
square miles.

The island group is surrounded at some considerable
distance by single isolated rocks of which the largest
and most distant project longitudinally towards the west.
These are the Inaccessible Rocks in latitude 60° 42’ S.
and longitude 47° 12’ W., three in number, and completely
inaccessible islets of diminutive size, probably like the
others evidences of a previous extension of the principal
islands. The action of the strong surf has here been
increased beyond that of the eastern side by the prevalent
west winds, the westward current, and the action of the
floating ice.

5. THE SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS.

Considerably more extensive than the South Orkney
Isles is their western continuation, the widely spread
group of the South Shetlands, the first Antarctic discovery
of the nineteenth century. Situated between the fifty-
third and sixty-third meridians of west longitude, and

156 THE ANTARCTIC

latitude 61’ to 634’ S., they fall, on closer observation, into
three groups. The eastern one, separated by a striking
distance from the central group, clearly represents the
link with the South Orkneys, while the western sub-
division is not widely separated from the middle islands by
the much narrower Boyd Straits. _ In common with the
chain formed by the South Orkneys, and corresponding to
them, they have a distinct direction : first, in the eastern
group, from east to west; and then, in the central group,
from east north-east to west south-west. At a trifling
distance from these on the south side are three islands
with an essentially different structure, while the western
subdivision consists of two islands, of which the southern
one is a definite continuation of the central group, and
the northern one projects to the north.

The eastern group consists of two larger islands,
Clarence Island and Elephant Island, so. called from
the great number of sea elephants formerly found there.
Between the two lies Cornwallis Island, somewhat to the
north, and at the southern end of Elephant Island, though
at some distance, lie the four islets Narrow Island, Gibb
Island, Aspland Island and O’Brien Island. Clarence
Island, which is approximately circular in form, lies on
parallel 61° 16’ S. and meridian 54° 10’ W. Though of
no great size (30 miles are mentioned as its circumference
and about eleven miles as its greatest length) it attains a
considerable elevation. This is estimated at 4,300 feet,
rising abruptly from the sea and forming several steep
summits, of which the most considerable seems to be in
the west. The whole island is covered with snow, with
the exception of the highest points and the precipitous
descent on the coast, where the angle is too great to
afford a support to the snow, and glaciers descend on
all sides. Nothing is reported of any landing on the
island, and for this reason nothing is known of its
geological structure; it is possible to conjecture that

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SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. 157

together with Elephant Island it differs from the structure
of the South Orkneys, and belongs to the southern chain
of volcanic islands; indeed its anomalous outlines would
support such a theory. Of the structure of the tiny
island, Cornwallis Island, situated to the north of the
strait between the other two, nothing whatever is known.

West1L.v. Greeravich.

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Map of the Dirk Gerritz Archipelago (after Stieler’s Hand Atlas).

It appears as though it had been violently detached from
the north-east end of Elephant Island. The latter again
bears some resemblance in its outline to the South
Orkneys, like the members of the central South Shetland
group ; it stretches lengthways from E.N.E. to W.S.W..,

158 THE ANTARCTIC.

broadens out between longitude 54° 40’ and 55° 35’ W.,
and latitude 61° 1’ and 61° 18’ S., has an extreme length
of about thirty miles, with an open, wide bay at its
southern end. This island also is covered with numerous
abrupt and steep summits of which the highest are said
to be upwards of 3,000 feet high, frequently free from
snow. The lower and more level land on the contrary
is completely snow-covered, and sends numerous glaciers
down to the sea. The west side of the island is more
especially surrounded by cliffs, which are continued in the
four islands before-mentioned—Narrow, Gibb, Aspland
and O’Brien Islands—all of small area but comparatively
high and covered with snow. Narrow has a lofty conical
mountain almost detached from the island; on O’Brien
three or four rise—so that, according to D’Urville’s
comparison, the islet resembles the upturned roots of
a molar tooth.

A strait of perhaps seventy-five miles in breadth, and
still unnamed, leads across to the central group of the
South Shetlands, which extends from Cape South Fore-
land on King George’s Island in longitude 57° 33’ W.
to the West Cape of Snow Island in longitude 61° 20’
W., and from the North Foreland of King George's
Island in latitude 61° 50’ S. to the southern extremity
of Snow Island in latitude 62° 52’ S., in a chain of about
150 miles in length. It is obvious that the whole at one
time formed a single island which has been severed by
channels crossing the major axis at right angles, into
portions closely ranged side by side. One is reminded
of Nova Zembla on a small scale, and its division by
the Matotschkin Schar: whether, however, the transverse
channels are to be regarded as fjord-like passages or as
resulting from techtonic action, it is at present quite im-
possible even remotely to determine. Altogether there are
two larger islands, five smaller, and a countless number of
the smallest islets and dunes, which are characteristically

SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. 159

closely scattered along the entire north-west coast of the
chain, while the south coast is almost entirely free from
them. The different depths correspond to this diversity,
for in the north-west among the cliffs they indicate the
existence of an extensive shallow sea, soundings showing
a depth of only 500 feet at a distance of ten miles from
land.

Proceeding from north-east to south-west the first
island is King George’s Island, the largest of all, about
fifty-five miles long and sixteen miles broad at its widest
part. Unfortunately, very little is known of this island,
or indeed of any other of the group. The south coast is
comparatively high and rocky, but seems to have no
elevation of any importance, as 750 to 1,000 feet are given
aS approximate measurements. Towards the north and
east the land gradually descends, and in this direction
a few small brooks, already observed by Smith and
Bellingshausen, find their way from thawing ice and snow.
The greater heights are covered with snow, and probably
send down glaciers, but no mention is made of these.
Several favourable bays and harbours are found, especially
on the south side, while the north coast is rendered
insecure by its numerous cliffs. It would lead us too far
to name all the harbours and anchoring grounds sought
out and named by the seal-hunters of the earlier part of
the century, especially as their positions have not all been
correctly ascertained and verified.

Field Straits separate this island from Nelson Island,
a smaller island of whose structure and characteristics
nothing is known. Nelson Straits divide it from the
still smaller Robert Island, which rises from north to
south like King George’s Island and is probably lofty.
The same description applies to Greenwich Island lying
between English Straits on the east and MacFarlane
Straits on the west, with a somewhat uneven surface.
All these islands are thickly covered with snow even in

160 THE ANTARCTIC.

summer in spite of their relatively low elevation. Larsen
landed in the beginning of December, 1893, on Greenwich
Island, and found only the flat centre of the island free
from snow, while elsewhere the snow descends to ninety
feet above sea-level. It is, however, to be presumed
that in January and February larger and more extensive
areas are free from snow.

The next island, Livingston Island, is the second in
size of the whole group, and also the best known. It is
much articulated on the north side, and also on the north-
east, nor are deep bays lacking on the southern side.
The orographic structure exactly coincides with the other
members of the group already described, for the most
important elevations occur in the north-east and in the
south, with a gentle descent towards the north. Near the
southern shore lies Barnard’s Peak, with a height said to
be 3,400 to 3,800 feet, the most important summit of the
central South Shetland group. The glaciation seems
very powerful; glaciers everywhere descending into the
sea, and of one of these Weddell even states that it ex-
tended right across the island. Powell also reports that
South Bay or Johnson’s Harbour, otherwise very favour-
ably situated on the south-west coast, is rendered positively
dangerous by the glaciers descending into it and the
masses of ice constantly falling. Bellingshausen found
the north-west coast, on the contrary, tolerably free from
ice. The remaining islands are unimportant: Rugged
Island, as its name indicates, high and abrupt, Snow
Island, on the other hand, the western member, low,
monotonous, and covered with snow. D’Urville found
the snow dirty in appearance—probably the easy approach
to it renders it a haunt of the penguins.

Scanty as are the data for the orographic structure of
the chain of islands just described, they are nevertheless
fuller than those relating to their geological structure,
though fortunately these are not entirely wanting. Though

SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. 161

meagre, they are sufficient to confute an opinion that has
lately been advanced, according to which the South Shet-
lands are supposed to be a volcanic range. The very first
discoverers who visited the group brought back specimens
to their own countries, and though these have been
examined only in regard of the minerals visible to the
naked eye, while scarcely anything is communicated
concerning their matrix, yet various conclusions can be
arrived at from them. Moreover, accounts are not
entirely lacking of the most important rocks and stones
found there. When Smith landed for the first time on
King George's Island, not far from the north-east end,
he found the ground consisted of blue-grey slate. The
writer of the account of the voyage in the Edinburgh
Philosophical Journal was of opinion, according to the
testimony of Smith’s steersman, that there might be horn-
blende slate or chlorite slate; meantime it is not clear
whether this applies also to the landing-place. So much
is probably correct, that at least the northern flank of the
largest island of the group is built up, not of eruptive but
of slate rocks, perhaps the same that are found on the
South Orkneys. It may also be concluded that the
northern coasts of the other islands are of the same
structure, as the outlines are identical, a difference in the
geology being invariably associated with a difference
in the form of the coast outlines. Another statement,
which must, however, not be hastily accepted, though a
confirmation of it would be welcome, is that coal has been
found in superabundance. Details are not given; it
therefore remains doubtful whether it is driftwood that
has become peat, or actual coal, or anthracitic layers in
the shale and slate. In the Chilian Cordilleras on the
coast carboniferous strata of the upper chalk formation
occur above crystalline slate, and tertiary peat in the
neighbourhood of the Straits of Magellan; but it seems

scarcely reasonable to assume that therefore the South
11

162 THE ANTARCTIC.

Shetland Islands have tertiary coal formations, even
though Seymour Island has tertiary formations. More-
over, the statement itself is at best a doubtful one. For
the present it is sufficient to determine that the north-
west flank of the South Shetlands evidently consists of
crystalline slates, that the descent in the north to the
level of the sea is very gradual, that per contra the
greatest elevations are found on the south-east coast,
that numerous islets, rocks, and cliffs are scattered along
the north-west coasts—perhaps the remaining indications
of more extensive land, submerged by the action of the
waves—that the south-east flank is entirely devoid of
these detached rocks, and that for this reason the depth
of the sea on this side probably increases much more
rapidly than on the other. If all this be taken into
account, and it is borne in mind that the southern flank
is accompanied by active volcanoes, the thought arises
that the South Shetlands consist of either a contorted
or non-contorted mountain chain, the northern portion of
which, subsiding to the W.N.W., has remained standing,
while the southern has sunk into a chasm on which the
volcanic islands we now see arose simultaneously. It
would be highly interesting if these conditions could be
carefully investigated—an undertaking that might be
successfully accomplished by occasionally wintering here,
even if there were no actual polar expedition set on foot.

The volcanic islands referred to play an important
part in the later geological history of this region ;
they are situated on the south side of the central group
of the South Shetland Isles, to which they form a parallel
range. The charts give three: Bridgeman Island, Middle
Island, and last, and by tar the most interesting of all,
Deception Island.

The smallest of these volcanic islands, Bridgeman
Island, is also the farthest distant from the non-volcanic
members of the group. According to existing surveys

SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. 163

it lies in latitude 62° 10’ S. and longitude 56° 30’ W.,
approximately thirty-five miles from the nearest point
of the remaining islands, the South Foreland of King
George's Island. The circumference is small, but seems
subject to variations brought about by volcanic activity,
as neither the estimates of its size nor those of its
elevation and outline correspond with one another.
While Powell in the early twenties states that he saw
a great crater at an altitude of about seventy-five feet
above sea-level on the west side of the island, where
it is 180 feet high, Dumont d’Urville gives the height
of the island as 480 to 500 feet, with a greatest diameter
of something over a nautical mile and a circumference of
three to four nautical miles. All accounts on the other
hand agree in stating that every visit to the island
proved it to be in a state of solfatara activity, and also
that the several emissions of gases proceeded from fissures
mostly near the coast, rising from it, according to D’Urville,
to a height of about 300 feet and upwards. All these
active manifestations took place on the west side of the
island, which, like the northern and western coasts, rises
steep and abrupt from the sea; the south side alone is
lower and flatter, and thousands of penguins were found
on it. The island is described as conical; Wilkes, with
whom D’Urville agrees, calls its shape that of a flattened
cupola. The sides seemed to be furrowed by the cor-
rugations so characteristic of stratified volcanoes, but this
is probably true of only the more loosely constructed
parts. Near the summit streams of lava are clearly
indicated, and over them glowing red ashes or tufa; the
slopes are of the same deep red tint, and have probably
been entirely disintegrated by the action of the solfataras.
All who have visited the island testify to the suffocating
fumes of the gases exhaled. No landing has as yet been
effected. The boats of D’Urville’s expedition were com-
pelled to content themselves with sailing round it at no

164 THE ANTARCTIC.

great distance ; not a trace of snow was anywhere seen,
and on the south side even some vegetation was observed.
The accompanying view by D’Urville is unfortunately
not clear enough to give a good idea of the island.
At some distance from Bridgeman Island, nearly
ninety miles to the W.S.W., the charts indicate Middle
Island, frequently described as elevated, in latitude 62°
50’ S. and longitude 59° 30’ W., some fifteen miles distant
from Greenwich Island. Curiously enough, nothing
further is anywhere communicated, and of the travellers
D’Urville, Wilkes, and last of all even Larsen, not
one got a sight of it when in close proximity to the

Bridgeman Island (after Dumont d’ Urville).

position laid down. Indeed it is open to conjecture that
Middle Island has no actual existence, and is to be
explained by an early view of one of the lofty summits
of Louis-Philippe Land. Seen perhaps from one of the
South Shetland Islands it would have the appearance of
being isolated, and might therefore be entered on the
chart as an island. On Weddell’s chart, which marks.
both Bridgeman and Deception Islands, Middle Island
does not appear at all.

Farthest to the west, and at the same time the nearest
neighbour to Livingston Island, nearly four miles off in
the northern chain of the South Shetland Isles, lies
Deception Island, in many respects one of the most

SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. 165

interesting objects to be found in the Antarctic regions.
It is one of the most remarkable, and at the same time
one of the largest, crater islands on our earth. The
circumference of the island, whose centre is in latitude
62° 56’ S. and longitude 60° 4o’ W., is about thirty miles
according to Webster, to whom we are indebted for an
account of Foster’s voyages; the diameter from north to
south about twelve miles, that from east to west about
nine miles. Within this space a considerable portion of

Map of Deception Island (after Dumont d’Urville).

the area is occupied by the inner bay, where the hollow
of the crater lies under the surface of the sea. This inner
basin, nearly elliptical in outline, has a diameter of five
to six miles, and a circumference of thirteen to fourteen
miles ; it opens towards the sea on the south-west through
one very narrow channel of only 550 feet across. The
depth of this basin increases rapidly from eighteen feet
at the entrance to over 1,140 feet in the centre. (This is
Powell’s sounding; Kendall gives only 580 feet.) The

166 THE ANTARCTIC.

rim of the basin is on the whole more level than the outer
circle of the island, except at the western entrance to this
crater bay, where a steep cliff of about 787 feet descends
perpendicularly into the water. The shores have many
indentations, some being again the ruins of smaller
craters, though other spent craters lie apparently close to
the shore without visible communication with the great
basin. Thus Lieutenant Johnson of Wilkes’ squadron
found a small crater of 1,400 feet in diameter in the
background of the bay; it was separated from the great

basin by a rampart 394 feet wide, and rising gradually to

a height of eighteen feet, while it fell away steep towards
the inside, which was full of water rising to the same level
as the surface outside.

According to Webster, the enclosure of the great
basin is irregular in form ; it is not only broader but more
elevated on the eastern side, attaining a height of 1,575
feet (Webster), or even 1,770 feet (Kendall) in Iceberg
Hill. The structure of the island is exclusively volcanic,
and exhibits many peculiarities. So far as Foster’s
investigations indicate, the walls of the collapsed crater
consist for the greater part of loose eruptive matter, dark
ashes, partly solid, as tufas, sands and slack, also pumice
stones, all clearly stratified. Basalt, solid and porous,
though only very rarely, also obsidian and perlit. These
certainly testify against the basaltic nature of the lavas,
since perlit is mentioned as occurring in the basalt. An
accurate estimate of these rocks could manifestly be
made only after thorough chemical and microscopical
investigation. Minerals of non-volcanic origin, either as
self-existent or enclosed in other substances, are not
mentioned. The whole material of which Deception
Island is built up is, moreover, exposed to the great
changes and the destruction brought about by wind and
weather, and by the activity of the solfataras and the
fumaroles of the volcanic ruin. At the time of Foster’s

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SOUTH SHETLAND ISLAND

168 THE ANTARCTIC.

visit, he had an opportunity of observing both these forms
of volcanic manifestation, though no actual eruption
producing ashes and lava took place. On the_ other
hand numerous fumaroles, especially on the shores of the
basin, were seen, from which hissing jets of steam escaped,
breaking through the masses of ash and tufa washed down
from the hills; near these were numerous hot springs
with a temperature of 190°4° F. It is interesting to find
these steam jets and hot-water springs piercing a com-
pletely hard-frozen surface, as was discovered by digging
down close to the openings. In the neighbourhood of
these sources and of the solfataras, a dense layer of
milk-white gypsum, partly crystallised, was found, also
sulphur and alum; among the gases ejected sulphuretted
hydrogen seemed to preponderate. The fumaroles and
solfataras were not confined to the shores of the inner
basin, they were seen in numbers on the higher summits,
which were constantly veiled in clouds of steam. This
was especially the case with Iceberg Hill, the cap of
which consisted of hot clay containing sulphur and alum
efflorescence. The changes wrought in the original
substances are not, however, confined to the immediate
neighbourhood of the active emission of gas and steam,
but everywhere on the island there were wide and often
extensive tracts transformed into masses of hard bright
red clay through the action of disintegrating processes.
This clay is found in a solid and porous state, partly
enclosing crystals. In some places a very interesting
alternation of layers of undecomposed ashes and snow
was found, in others ice and snow alone seemed to cover
the summits of the hills, and again hillocks of pure ashes
lay between them. Webster does not attribute these
conditions to eruptions of ashes of which none were
seen, but rather to the activity of the violent tempests
of the west winds, which set in motion large masses of
light eruptive matter as well as snow. Besides these

SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. 169

forces another, that of flowing water, is particularly active,
whether as heavy rain during the short summer, or in
tremendous masses of melted water descending from the
island itself and cleaving the slopes in all directions with
ravines forming temporary watercourses.

In its main outlines Webster's account corresponds
to the descriptions of Lieutenant Johnson. But although
the latter landed as late as the end of March, while Foster
had arrived in January, he seems to have seen considerably
less snow. This was also the experience of Dumont
dUrville; he certainly did not land, but he remarked
that not only the slopes but even the summits were free
from snow. Smiley finally reports that the whole south
side of the island was in full volcanic activity in February,
1842, ‘fon fire,” and that as many as thirteen active
centres were seen. This is the last account of Deception
Island, and later accounts are entirely wanting.

Boyd Straits, about thirty miles across, separate the
last two and westernmost members of the South Shetlands
from the middle group. It is a curious coincidence that
the northern one, Smith Island, should be the loftiest of
the entire group, while Low Island, the southern one, is
apparently the lowest. It is equally remarkable that the
latter lies exactly on the line of direction of the central
main group, while Smith Island, obviously also of entirely
different geological structure, seems to be projected north.
Low Island, latitude 63° 15’ S. longitude 62° 15’ W.,
which appears to share the pecubiarities of the rest of the
island chain in being a slate formation surrounded by
numerous rocks, is not described in any of the sources
available for information. The name leads to the in-
ference that the island is flat like its neighbour, Snow
Island, on the other side of Boyd Straits, which it also
resembles in point of size. Smith Island, named after
its discoverer, is as already stated very different. Lying
in latitude 62° 55’ S. and longitude 62° 35’ W., it rises on

170° THE ANTARCTIC.

all sides abrupt and steep from the sea to considerable

heights, the principal, Mount Foster, to the south-west
of the island being in round numbers 6,200 feet high,

while Mount Pisco, near the south coast, is estimated to.

be upwards of 4,250 feet high. Only in one place was
a small flat shore found, and on this Weddell was able
to land. The whole island is completely covered with

ice and snow, with the exception of the steepest slopes.

where no support exists. Doubtless the strong glaciation
of this island, as compared with the other members of the
South Shetlands, is accounted for by its elevation, and
this theory is borne out by the thicker covering being
on the southern side. As to its geological structure we
are almost in the dark; Bellingshausen alone mentions
vertical strata, but whether this fact indicates a powerful
upheaval of existing strata, or the columnar severance in

a surface of volcanic eruptive rock, it is impossible to.

determine. The latter appears the more probable, be-
cause, as already stated, the mere outlines of the island
seem to testify to volcanic origin, which would account
both for the tilt in the stratification and for its remark-
able height.

We here leave the island chain of the South Shetlands,
and turn to the more extensive tracts of land and of island
groups lying to their south.

6. THE DIRK GERRITZ ARCHIPELAGO.

Of all the tracts of land hitherto discovered in Antarctic:

regions none in the course of time has afforded so many

surprises, nor undergone such fundamental reconstruction.

on maps and charts as the islands collectively called in
modern times the Dirk Gerritz Archipelago. The oldest
charts, those of Powell and Weddell, indicate a vaguely

outlined coast to the south of the South Shetland Islands,,

DIRK GERRITZ ARCHIPELAGO. 171

running in the direction from E.N.E. to W.S.W. in
longitude 56° 30’ to 61 30’ W., and leaving a great gap
in the middle. The western portion of this coast bears
the name Trinity Land, with Hope Island off the other
still unnamed eastern coast. At the present time all this
is changed; in place of such a coast extending in one
unbroken line to Graham’s Land in the south-west, an
island group is found, intersected by numerous straits and
channels, and entirely separated from Graham’s Land,
with an area considerably smaller than the imaginary
tracts of land of former days, though it must be confessed
that even this modern discovery has been insufficiently
investigated.

The Dirk Gerritz Archipelago is separated from the
South Shetland Isles by Bransfield Straits, the breadth
of which varies from twenty-eight to seventy-eight miles.
The narrowest part is in the west, where the islets in the
north of Hughes Gulf approach Low Island; the widest
part lies between Joinville Island—the easternmost
member of the Archipelago-—and King George’s Island.
At the western end isolated rocks, the Austin Rocks and
the Kendall Rocks, rise in the middle of the channel, the
former between Low Island and Trinity Land, the latter
between Trinity Land and Deception Island. Unfor-
tunately no information exists concerning the depth of the
water in the straits, and therefore it is impossible to draw
any inference concerning their structure. The only known
sounding, that of Dumont d’Urville to the north-west of
Mount Jacquinot, and therefore much nearer to Louis-
Philippe Land than to the South Shetland Isles, shows 950
feet ; this is a somewhat greater depth than that met with
at the same distance north of the South Shetland Isles.

So far as our present knowledge goes, the Dirk
Gerritz Archipelago is composed of a number of larger
and smaller islands lying approximately, though not
completely, parallel to the South Shetland Isles, as may

172 THE ANTARCTIC.

be inferred from the latitude of Bransfield Straits. The
names of the larger islands beginning at the east are:
Joinville Island, Louis-Philippe Land, Trinity Land—
reducible to a group of smaller islands if the latest
accounts by Larsen are accepted—and Palmer’s Land.
Dallmann’s. discoveries had already established the
separation between Palmer’s Land and Graham's Land.
It is not improbable that later voyages will prove Palmer’s
Land also to be another group of islands. The whole
island chain is separated in the south from Graham’s
Land by comparatively broad straits, whose western end,
Bismarck Straits, fifteen miles wide, was explored by
Dallmann in 1874. The apparently far broader eastern
end was seen by Larsen, but has hitherto received no
name.

It is convenient to begin the examination of the
islands of the Dirk Gerritz Archipelago with Joinville
Island as the most northerly and easterly. Its length
between the eastern point, Cape Moody, longitude about
55 5 W., and the western, Cape Kinness, longitude close
upon 56 45’ W., is fifty-five miles in round numbers,
while the extreme northern point, Point des Frangais is
in latitude 62° 59’ S., and the southern, not yet named,
in latitude 63° 22'S. From the Point des Frangais the
coast extends E.S.E. as far as Cape Fitzroy, a striking
landmark, broken into just before the cape by a deep
bay, which impressed Ross as very suitable for a harbour.
From Cape Fitzroy the coast takes a south-easterly
direction to Cape Moody, and then in a shallow curve
sweeps round the foot of Mount Percy, the greatest
elevation on the island. From Cape Alexander the
trend is to the west, Gibson Bay, which is deep, breaking
the coast line. Cape Kinness, as stated previously, forms
the western point. It is joined to the main island by a
low and narrow isthmus which was not observed by
Dumont d’Urville; he consequently set down the cape

DIRK GERRITZ ARCHIPELAGO. 173

as an island, which he named Rosamel Island, being
confirmed in his error by a deep bay from the north
which nearly severs the cape from the peninsula. With
the exception of this break the coast line again extends
north-east back to Point des Francais. The whole island
is surrounded by a great number of rocks and rocky
islets; a larger one, Dundee Island, lies off the south,
separated from the main island by a channel of which
the western section, called Active Sound, extends north-
east towards Gibson Bay, while the far longer eastern
part extends S.S.E. and bears the name of Firth of Tay.
The southern point of Dundee Island is Cape Purvis,
named by Ross, beyond which Paulet Island and its
smaller neighbour Eden Island project. The channel
itself is about thirty miles long, two to two and a half
miles broad in the western part, and contains somewhat
considerable depths, probably over 540 feet ; in its eastern
portion its breadth is upwards of six miles. Dundee
Island is thirty-four miles long with an average breadth
of over four miles.

On the east side of Joinville Island, and at some
considerable distance from it, are the outlying Danger
Islets of which the southernmost, Darwin Islet, lies at
a distance of fifteen miles from Cape Moody. Altogether
there seems to be seven, of which two, however, are mere
cliffs to which other cliffs are added close in shore. The
whole north coast, too, is fringed with rocks, and last of
all, east of Cape Fitzroy, comes a small, elevated, cone-
shaped island, which Ross, from its resemblance to the
European volcano, named Etna Islet.

The surface of Joinville Island exhibits a striking
difference between the west and the east. While the
whole western portion is low and flat, and scarcely above
325 feet high at its greatest elevation—especially on the
south side, where, however, one steep hill called D’Urville’s
Monument by Ross, rises on the coast of Active Sound

174 THE ANTARCTIC.

to a height of 490 to 590 feet—the eastern half of the
island is occupied by Mount Percy to which Ross assigns
a height in round numbers of 3,600 feet. This mountain
is like a flat cupola in form, from which two steep rocky
cones rise, and these according to Ross were entirely free
from snow. A few officers thought they saw clouds of
smoke rising from the summits; Ross, on the contrary,
was of opinion that this appearance was caused either by
clouds or by snow-drift. Meanwhile there is a probability
that careful investigation might prove Mount Percy to be
a volcano. The whole island is completely covered with
ice and snow. On the south side the inland ice descends
into Active Sound, forming deep clefts in coming from
the plateau of the island, and these, of course, parallel to
the coast line ; the mass of ice enters the sea as a rampart
upwards of fifty-nine in height. Farther to the east iso-
lated ‘‘ nunatak”? above the ice have been observed from
the Sound, and Gibson Bay is equally girt in; only one
rocky peninsula, Cape Alexander, about 200 feet high, is
free from ice. Here clear geological lines form a profile
that might have given some information concerning the
geological structure of the island, but unfortunately it has
been observed only from a distance, and even then not
by an expert. Charles Donald, the medical officer of
the Active relates that the rocks of which Cape
Alexander is composed in general appear black, hard
and crystalline. This mass is, however, traversed by two
distinct narrow layers of softer, slate-like rock, sloping
south at an angle of 45°, and recognisable by their light
brown colour. Immediately below them lie—and here
the data are somewhat vague—numerous flat, angular
stones, which are to be regarded as an accumulation of
débris, but for the rest correspond to the before-men-

1 Originally a Greenland expression for rocks appearing in the
inland ice.

‘Li aind 2907] ‘(a][f41Q .p yuoun Jaye) puey oddyiyg-sinoy yo suid] aqnjosjsp ayy,

DIRK GERRITZ ARCHIPELAGO. 175

tioned strata. The dark colour of the upper rock, here
and there changed to orange, Donald attributes to the
presence of oxide of iron; it is quite as probable that it
is caused by a lichen which here, as elsewhere in these
regions, covers the rocks. On the farther side of Cape
Alexander the inland ice rises steep to the double summit
of Mount Percy, and the height of the ice wall here,
near Cape Alexander, is doubtless upwards of 200 feet.
Towards the east it diminishes, and does not appear to
border the whole east coast, for Ross tells of a glacier,
several nautical miles broad, which descended to the sea
from a height of 985 to 1,300 feet, and ended in a barrier
go to 100 feet high, in front of which Ross observed the
largest accumulation of icebergs he had ever seen.
Similar conditions obtain in Dundee Island, although
the absence of such lofty elevations brings with it the
absence of the deep and universal ice-covering met with in
Joinville Island. The ground nowhere rises above 160
feet, and may, therefore, as compared with its extent, be
regarded as very flat. The ice covering, broken only by
small clefts across the line of fracture, descends very
gradually to the sea, forming ice walls of only twenty-
seven to forty-eight feet high. In one place on the
north-west of the island, Active Sound, Donald found a
level beach slightly covered with snow and of a peculiar
greenish-brown colour, probably a growth of lichen. The
shingle here consisted of red and grey granite, sandstone, ©
conglomerate, and eruptive rock, and further inland bones
of whales in a state of decomposition were found. These
finds are of the greatest interest, for even if the rocks were
found on layers of secondary formation, they nevertheless
prove that adjoining sedimentary rocks cannot be far
distant, and afford an indication that the tracts south of
Drake's Straits are obviously fragments of more extensive
country at a previous period. Whether the bones of
whales found farther in the interior are to be regarded

176 THE ANDTABCTIC:

as an evidence of a recent negative change in the coast
(a rise of the land) it is as yet impossible to determine,
but it is worthy of note as corresponding to similar finds
in the South Shetland Islands. It is to be regretted that
Donald had no opportunity of examining the rock near
Dundee Island, and that of Cape Alexander, for decided
opinions might then have been arrived at concerning the
structure of the two islands which seem so closely con-
nected. So much, however, may be affirmed, that the
inclined strata observed by Donald on Cape Alexander
—provided they are composed of crystalline slate or
precipitate rock—decidedly point to structural disturbances
such as are very likely to occur in the neighbourhood of
volcanoes.

Of the smaller islands surrounding Joinville Island,
Paulet Island, some 720 to 750 feet high, the south-
eastern continuation of Dundee Island, as also a hitherto
unnamed island 300 feet high to the west of Dundee
Island, show only a comparatively slight covering of
snow. The brownish-green hue noticed in Dundee
Island is met with in both. Larsen indeed relates that
on his visit the first island, which gave him the impression
of being a volcano, was quite free from snow ; according
to his account it descends almost perpendicularly on the
north-east and is brick-red. The Danger Islands seem
more deeply covered with snow, except where the
descents are too precipitous. Etna Island farther north
is also thickly covered with snow.

The accounts of the much larger Louis-Philippe Land
are far less complete and satisfactory than those available
for an acquaintance with Joinville Island. Louis-Philippe
Land is conjectured to be the largest member of the Dirk
Gerritz Archipelago, but complete ignorance still reigns
as to its western coast. The northernmost point, the
point also nearest to Joinville Island, is Mount Bransfield,
in about latitude 63° 7’ S. and longitude 56° 55’ W.

DIRK GERRITZ ARCHIPELAGO. 177

From this point the coast descending in terraces extends
to the entrance to the broad Orleans Channel in latitude
63 30’ S. and longitude 58° 35’ W., but beyond this it is
entirely unknown. At Cape Foster, latitude 64° 27’ S.,
longitude 58° 7’ W., the coast returns to the former horizon
and extends thence in an easterly direction, on the whole,
as far as Cape Lockyer. Here an immense mass of ice,
descending from Mount Haddington, reaches from the
coast right across to Snow Islan d,and apparently connects

Louis-Philippe Land (after Dumont d’Urville).

the mainland with the island, from which it would otherwise
be separated by Admiralty Bay. Seymour Island may
be regarded as a prolongation of Snow Land towards
the north-east and terminates in Cape Seymour, latitude
64 13/ S., longitude 56° 32’W. Towards Admiralty Bay
Cockburn Island lies near the northern end of Seymour
Island. The circular sweep of the foot of Mount
Haddington constitutes the south-eastern as well as
the southern boundary of Louis-Philippe Land. North
of Mount Haddington, Sydney Herbert Bay, with its
12

178 THE ANTARCTIC.

deep elliptical curve, ends in Cape Gordon, latitude 63°
50’ S., longitude 57° 20’ W.; it is fifteen miles across and
extends the same distance inland. From Cape Gage to
Cape Corry, at no great distance, the coast continues in
a northerly direction, then E. to E.N.E. as far as opposite _
Dundee Island, and at length, broken by several small
bays, northwards until Mount Bransfield is again reached.
The wide bay which is thus framed in by Louis-Philippe
Land on the south and west, and by Joinville Island and
Dundee Island on the north and north-east, received the
name of Erebus and Terror Bay from Ross.

The major axis of Louis-Philippe Land may be taken
to run either from north to south, or from N.N.E.
to S.S.W., and to have a length of about 100 to 115
miles ; so long as the course of the western coast remains
unexplored, it is impossible to estimate the extent of the
island from east to west.

In contrast with the low and flat north-western portion
of Joinville Island, the north coast of Louis-Philippe Land
has elevations of some importance. Mount Bransfield,
already frequently cited as the most northern point, is a
conical mountain of 2,000 feet in round numbers. The
land extends uniformly high to the south and west to
the point where the coast takes a southern direction, and
Mount Jacquinot, also conical in form, rises to a height
of 2,000 feet and upwards. The character of the land
now changes in so far as a mountain chain, extending
south-west, takes the place of the isolated summits pre-
viously described, ending with the greatest height on
the north coast, Mount d’Urville, 3,000 feet. The land,
indistinctly seen, extends farther west to the entrance
of the Orleans Channel. With the exception of steep
mountain tops and isolated capes projecting into the sea,
the whole northern coast of Louis-Philippe Land is
completely glaciated, and in nearly every direction the
inland ice reaches the sea, standing above the surface in

DIRK GERRITZ ARCHIPELAGO. 179

a perpendicular barrier. Unfortunately D’Urville did not
approach sufficiently near to the coast to observe the
details of the glaciation, which doubtless exhibits many
marked disturbances in consequence of the steep descent
of the ice. The remarkably numerous dunes by which
the coast is surrounded are more or less free from snow ;
so is Astrolabe Island fourteen miles off. As little is
known of the geological structure of this part of Louis-

Mount Haddington and Cape Gage (after Ross).

Philippe Land as of the surface of the inland ice, since
D’Urville did not avail himself of the favourable oppor-
tunity of landing on Astrolabe Island; neither did he
examine the rubble of the icebergs frequently bearing
debris, nor is the height of the ice rampart indicated, nor
the size of the freshly detached icebergs. The dull
thundering reports of apparently yielding ice barriers
were frequently heard, but no actual detachment was
ever observed.

180 THE ANTARCTIC.

No information whatever exists as to the whole tract
between the north coast of Louis-Philippe Land and
Mount Haddington, towering above every other object
in the south. ‘Towards the east, opposite Dundee Island,
it appears rather flat, while there is a continuous rise
towards the south. The southern portion of the island
is entirely occupied by Mount Haddington, estimated by
Ross to be 7,000 to 7,050 feet high, and the loftiest
known elevation in this part of the Antarctic regions. It
rises towards the interior in three terraces, all beginning
with steep descents, and is on the whole deeply glaciated.
The dark rocks certainly often appear along the lines
of fracture marking the terraces, and in other places
“nunataks” rise above the ice; the steep descent of the
foot of the mountain is almost entirely free from ice and
snow. At a few points, especially to the north of Cape
Gage, which commands the western entrance to Admiralty
Bay, vast glaciers descend along the deeper valley de-
pressions, extending a considerable distance out to sea.
In the same manner a glacier, several nautical miles in
breadth, comes down from the south side of the mountain,
filing up the inner part of Admiralty Bay and thus
attaching the outlying island (Snow Land) to the main-
land. Another great glacier lies at the southern foot of
the mountain between Capes Foster and Lockyer.

Snow Land, the east coast of Admiralty Bay, on the
other hand is completely glaciated, and nowhere shows a
spot free from ice or snow. It is of pretty considerable
size ; its major axis extends nineteen to twenty miles from
south-west to north-east, and in the south it rises to
about 1,950 feet. Then it descends gradually to the
narrow sound separating it from Seymour Island, which
is low and narrow and about fourteen miles long. The
ice covering of Snow Land everywhere outlines the
coast with an ice wall keeping within such modest
proportions as forty-eight feet in the higher parts and

DIRK GERRITZ ARCHIPELAGO. 181

only twenty feet in the lower. The bed of the sea
round this island seems rather irregular, if Ross’s sound-
ings to the east of Snow Land and Seymour Island are
compared. At a distance of about five miles from the
coast they give only 145 feet, while at a distance of three
furlongs from the ice wall at the south of Snow Land
it was over 325 feet; somewhat to the west and in the
line of Admiralty Bay 480 to 590 feet, and fifteen miles
south of Snow Land it was already 980 feet. All these
irregularities in the structure of the sea bottom might be
referred to volcanic phenomena, if indeed they are not
attributed to glacial action originating in heavier masses
of ice. Ross did not visit the coast at the foot of Mount
Haddington, but the dark masses of which it is composed
seemed to him to indicate a volcanic origin ; this opinion
was strengthened by the outlines of the mountain and its
superimposed layers of fused stones. The stones taken
from the crops of penguins certainly belonged to eruptive
matter, and only one specimen of granite is mentioned by
McCormick the geologist and superior medical officer
of the Erebus. Seymour Island, forming the northern
continuation of Snow Land from which it is separated
by the six to nine feet deep sound, is indisputably of
volcanic structure. According to Ross, the island may
be assumed to. consist entirely of stone and volcanic
matter recently ejected; the surface is described as
consisting of a deep brown lava with the characteristic
corrugated confermation of the smooth mass on the top.
Larsen’s opinion, which fifty years later coincided with
that of Ross, is supported by the circumstance that the
island was free from snow; the dark colour of the rocks
moreover led him to conclude that the island had recently
been in a state of eruption, as the icebergs attached to
the island were seen to be discoloured at the top and the
side adjacent to land. No centre of eruption, however,
has as yet been found. Seymour Island is remarkable as

182 THE ANTARCTIC.

being the only spot in the Antarctic regions in which for
the first and only time palaontological remains have been
found. Larsen brought away petrifactions on his first
visit which were evidently not found in their original
resting-place, for they were already partly worn by
weather and friction. The English geologists found
that of seven shells of molluscs found here five belong
to the genus Cucullazaa and one Cytherea, both shells.
Two pieces of silicated conifers were also found.
Larsen’s second visit affords a more detailed account
of the configuration of the island which was traversed
not only by himself with two companions, but by a second
party. He describes the surface as hilly, about 300 feet
high—as far as he was able to judge—and intersected by
valleys. Of the elevations some are cone-shaped, and
appear to be small eruptive cones, built up of ashes and
lapilli; no other structure can be assumed since Larsen
describes them as consisting of ‘‘sand, cement, and small
stones”. On the other hand it is very puzzling that the
petrified wood was found here also, occurring principally on
an upper level of about 300 feet above the sea; the trunks,
he states, partly stood slanting in the ground. These cir-
cumstances recall Tasmania and Kerguelen where fossil
conifer wood similarly occurs bedded in basalt lava and
tufas, and there may be no great error in assuming that
analogous conditions obtain in Seymour Island. This
Antarctic discovery might prove to be of great importance,
as it goes to support the recent sharply-contested hypo-
thesis that the polar regions enjoyed a far warmer climate
during the tertiary period. The fossil plants found in
Greenland have been declared to be tertiary drift-wood,
but this explanation of the phenomenon in Seymour Island
cannot be accepted. The currents could convey a deposit
of drift-wood only from the west through Bismarck Straits,
and this improbable and unsatisfactory explanation in no
way accounts for the slanting position described by Larsen.

DIRK GERRITZ ARCHIPELAGO. 183

The account is interesting of “balls formed of sand
and cement” found in other parts of the island “lying on
supports of the same” ; they presented an appearance as
though formed “by the hand of man”. Dr. Donald who
saw these balls describes them as composed of concentric
layers, which leads to the inference that they were columns
of basalt which had crumbled into concentric scaled balls,
and this is not rare in basalt, and similarly in diabas and

ae —

Cockburn Island and Admiralty Bay (after Ross).

trachite. Larsen mentions no vegetation, which is all the
more remarkable as Hooker found a comparatively rich
flora existing close to Cockburn Island.

Cockburn Island on which Ross landed lies at the
entrance to Admiralty Bay, nearer to Seymour Island
than to Mount Haddington. As with Seymour Island
Ross found it entirely free from snow, as well on the
somewhat elevated southern as on the lower northern
side. According to his account the island reaches a

184 THE ANTARCTIC.

height of 2,700 feet, while its diameter is said to be only
about as much again. The highest summit is crater-like in
form, anda rock hke a tower rises at the north end. Both
stand on a plateau 1,300 feet in height, with a steep descent
to a narrow shore, the slope being covered with detritus
loosened by frost. The stone of the island is lava, partly
solid, partly porous. A yellow lichen mostly covers the
rocks, and together with eighteen other lichens, algze and
even mosses, forms a flora that has a scanty subsistence

on a surface completely frozen over even in the height of —

summer.

The last section of the Dirk Gerritz Archipelago,
Trinity and Palmer Lands, has experienced important
changes in its chartographical representations during the
last twenty-five years. After Dallmann’s discovery of
Bismarck Straits had severed the west coast of Palmer
Land from its previously presumed connection with
Graham’s Land, the discoveries of Larsen showed that
there was also no connection either in the east or in the
centre, and it was through Larsen’s observations that a
large portion of the Hinterland attributed to Trinity Land
was withdrawn. It may also be mentioned that the
present author had assumed a continuation of Bismarck
Straits before Larsen’s discoveries, basing his opinion
on the observation made by Ross of the strong current
setting east on the south coast of Louis-Philippe Land.

Great uncertainty still prevails concerning the actual
distribution and conformation of the land east of the
Orleans Channel and north of Bismarck Straits, although
these regions were the earliest visited of the whole
archipelago, both by seal-hunters and scientific expeditions
(Foster in the Chanticleer). Orleans Channel, which
bounds Trinity Land in the east, has at its end a breadth
of about twenty-two miles. The adjoining coast of
Trinity Land, situated. in about 63° 30’ S. latitude,
extends from about 59 25’ W. to about 60 50’ W.,

a

DIRK GERRITZ ARCHIPELAGO, 185

and so far as is known it is hilly and almost entirely
covered with ice. Foster's statement that the hills of
Trinity Land rise to heights of from 5,800 to 6,800 feet
may be based on an over-estimate ; it is certain that no
such heights are given elsewhere.

The entire western half of this coast apparently con-
sists either of islands or a remarkably narrow peninsula,
which forms a division between the eastern portion of
Hughes Gulf and Bransfield Straits. The coast seems
to run south from Hoseason Harbour, latitude 63° 40’
S., longitude 60° 20’ W. According to Dallmann, who
unfortunately observed his position rarely and inaccurately,
a narrow Strait then leads into the Orleans Channel. The
land lying to the south of these straits and the southern
boundary of Hughes Gulf are only vaguely known;
according to Larsen’s opinion—not an unassailable one
—and the chart based on it by Friedrichsen, the gulf
stands in wide and open connection with Bismarck
Straits. Up to the present, the south coast of Hughes
Gulf is placed in latitude 64° 20’ S., and its west coast
is formed by Palmer Land. The gulf or strait, especially
in its western portion, has a large number of islands,
of which the northernmost, Hoseason Island, was visited
by Foster, who landed on Cape Possession in latitude
63 46’ S. and longitude 61° 45’ W. The ice-covered
island proved to be composed of horn-blende syenite, and
has therefore no modern eruptive rocks. According
to the notes made by Kendall about the view to the
south from the neighbourhood of the cape, it seems that
the wide gulf becomes an archipelago of numerous small
islands farther along, and that their heights are con-
siderable, even if they do not reach the measurements
given by Webster. This is particularly true of the
remainder of Palmer Land, an island or more probably
a collection of islands, which according to present know-
ledge, extends from Cape Cockburn in the north in

186 THE ANTARCTIC.

latitude 63° 53’ S. and longitude 62° 10’ W. as far as.
Bismarck Straits in the south, in about 65° ro’ S. latitude,
and extends from Hughes Gulf in perhaps 61 30’ W.
longitude to about 63° 40’ W. longitude. The northern
half is divided by Dallmann Bay, a deep sweep, into two
rather narrow peninsulas or islands, with Cape Cockburn
and Mount Parry, apparently of high elevation, on the
easternmost. In the south-west of Dallmann’s Bay a
small strait branches off to the south, and this may
probably be connected with Roosen Straits, which are
wider, and extend from the end of Bismarck Straits.
northward. If these circumstances exist, the whole west
coast of Palmer Land, with its lofty mountain, Mount
Williams, discovered by Biscoe, forms a separate island.
Nothing whatever is known of what lies to the east
beyond Roosen Straits.

The land which is surrounded by a fringe of dunes
on all its coasts is glaciated according to height. Dallmann
states that with few exceptions the coast is formed by a
wall of ice ‘‘several hundred feet in height”. On the
other hand Biscoe found a shore free from ice and snow
at the foot of Mount Williams, close to which no bottom
had been reached at a depth of 121 feet, thus indicating
a well-marked steep shore, from which the rock, after
forming a narrow surf terrace, abruptly rises to consider-
able height. Unfortunately we have no account from the
two explorers who have visited this region of the rocks
they met with, so that no conjecture can be made either
as to the geological structure of Palmer Land or its
interior and its relation to other regions.

7. GRAHAM’S AND ALEXANDER LANDS.

South of the Dirk Gerritz Archipelago lies Graham’s.
Land, the largest land mass hitherto discovered south of
Drake Strait. In the “History of Discovery” it was.

GRAHAM’S AND ALEXANDER CANDS. 187

shown that its north-east and east coasts have only lately
been made known by Larsen’s second voyage, whilst the
west coast was seen first by Biscoe, then again by Dall-
mann, and quite lately by Evensen, who also was the
first to see Alexander Land again.

If Larsen’s observations are correct, the small island
bearing his name must be regarded as the northernmost
point of a group of islands situated in front of the north-
ern coast of Graham’s Land, which has not yet been
sighted. This island lies in latitude 64° 45’ S. and
longitude 60° 8’ W., and is the last link of the chain of
Seal Islands extending from north-west to south-east. Its
nearest neighbour is the Greater Jason Island, then the
smaller islets named Hertha, Castor and Oceana Isles,
and finally Robertson Island, of very considerable size,
whose loftiest summit is situated, according to Larsen’s
measurements, in latitude 65° 20’ S. and longitude 58°
47’W. In the immediate neighbourhood of the north-east
coast of this island, in latitude 64° 50’ S. and longitude
59 W., lies the volcano Christensen, and to the north-
east of it the conical-shaped Lindenberg Mountain, which
is also volcanic.

To the south of these islands rises the north-east
coast of Graham’s Land, named by Larsen, its discoverer,
King Oscar II.’s Land. It stretches from the neigh-
bourhood of the eastern Seal Islands in a S.S.W. direction
as far as latitude 65° 40’ S., where it forms the base of
a considerable elevation, vzz., the Jason Mountain, which
forms a peninsula projecting far into the sea, and adjoin-
ing a bay which penetrates deep into the land. From
the middle of it rises the lofty Wetter Island, and in the
far background Larsen saw at a great distance Foyn
Land, a mountainous country, consisting apparently of
four mountain ridges. (These he places in the region of
latitude 66° 25’ to 66° 42’ S., and longitude 61° 48’ to
61° 50’ W.) To the south of this region, in latitude

188 THE ANTARCTIC.

67° S., the coast again projects as far as 60° 40’ W.,
and stretches in a southerly and south-westerly direction
beyond the horizon of the southernmost point reached
(latitude 68° 10’ S.) far into unknown distances.

In the west begins the portion of Graham’s Land by
Bismarck Straits, which has been seen in about latitude
65° 20’ S., and extends from here in a south-westerly —
direction to beyond latitude 68° S. Unfortunately, neither
Biscoe nor Dallmann have given any, even remotely, satis-
factory account about these higher latitudes ; not even
the latitude in which the land was seen has been indicated.
We only know that Biscoe saw elevated and extensive
land to the east of Adelaide Island, situated in about
latitude 67° 15’ S. and longitude 68° 20’ W., and that
he believes he has traced it as far as Palmer Land.
Evensen does not even inform us if, according to his
observation, Alexander Land, which he has seen not
merely from the west, like Bellingshausen, but also from
the north, is in direct communication with Graham’s Land,
as one is inclined to conjecture, or if both these countries
are divided by a strait parallel to Bismarck Straits. The
tract of coast seen by Bellingshausen, and named by him
Alexander Land, lies in latitude 68° 43’ S. and longitude
73° 10’ W., and as it gave him the impression of a lofty
cape, from which the coast trends to the south-west, it
may well be that the other arm of the projection follows
an easterly direction, and might accordingly have been
seen from the north by Evensen as a coast line. If this
be really so, then it is certainly highly probable that
Alexander Land is a continuation of Graham’s Land.

Just as the Seal Islands lie in front of the north-
eastern extremity of Graham’s Land, so do the Kaiser
Wilhelm’s Islands in the west mark the entrance to
Bismarck Straits, albeit that their positions as well as
their outlines are but faintly indicated in the charts we
possess. The chain of Biscoe Islands, which must be

GRAHAM’S AND ALEXANDER LANDS. 189

regarded as coast islands, is probably in no way connected
with the Kaiser Wilhelm’s Islands; it begins, according
to Biscoe, with Pitt Island in latitude 66° 20’ S. and longi-
tude 66° 38’ W., and extends south-west parallel to the
coast, but at a considerable distance from it, averaging
about forty-five miles, as far as latitude 66° 20’ S., but it
must not be forgotten that the position of the main coast
is still very undetermined. Adelaide Island, also situated
far to the south, stands in no visible connection with the
chain of Biscoe Islands proper, and it seems also to be at
a much less distance from the coast, vzz., about eighteen
miles, according to the indication of the charts.

Our knowledge of the vertical structure of Graham’s
Land is as scanty as that of its outlines and of its geology ;
we only know that it possesses near its north-east coast
two small active volcanoes. These two volcanic islands
are in fact the best known parts of the country, one—
Christensen Island—having been visited by Larsen, and
the other was seen at no very great distance. The former
Larsen describes as mostly free from snow, completely so.
round the summit, whence a stream of lava was poured
out towards the eastern flank of the island. On the un-
melted field-ice surrounding the island were found masses
of eruptive rocks ejected by a recent eruption, which an
examination by Dr. Petersen showed to have consisted
of real olivenite felspar basalt. Larsen gives no infor-
mation about the conjectured elevation of the island, nor
about the nature of its volcanic activity, but on the other
hand he does tell us that on the slopes of the Linden-
berg Cone smoke was seen to rise in heavy masses from
numerous parasitic craters ; indeed, the intense volcanic
activity of this island was made manifest by the fact that
the ice was melted for a considerable distance round it.
One might almost be inclined to ascribe a volcanic char-
acter to Robertson Island as well as to the five Seal
Islands lying in a straight line, as they appear strikingly

190 THE ANTARCTIC.

free from snow, in perfect contrast to King Oscar Land,
which is wholly enveloped in ice and snow. Robertson
Island, the largest of them, is highest in the south, de-
scending towards the north ; this is the case also in the
neighbouring Oceana Island; on the other hand Larsen
describes Castor Island as flat, Hertha Island as somewhat
higher, and Jason Island finally is described as high, and,
according to his estimation, three Norwegian miles (equal
to eighteen English miles) in extent. Larsen Island,
again, is low.

King Oskar Land is apparently high and wholly
glaciated, excepting a few isolated spots where the bare
rock stands out from amidst the icy covering. North of
Jason Mountain it appears relatively level, or gently
ascending, whilst near the Jason Mountain the surface is
described as unevenand rugged. To the north of this strik-
ing summit the eastern extremity of which has been named
Framnees, lies an ice-clad fjord extending west. From
this spot the coast of the country extends to the north, and
is enclosed by an ice barrier, the edge of which is distant
five to six miles from the land, which gradually ascends,
and is here and there of considerable elevation. This icy
barrier also extends southwards along the whole extent
of coast as far as it is known, and is much higher than to
the north of Cape Framnces. Openings of remarkable
depth are noticed in it, which Larsen regards as fjords; they
are probably gaps left by icebergs that have drifted away.
In many places the icy barrier was overhanging atop, and
large masses of ice got detached and fell with a thunderous
crash into the sea. From Larsen’s account it is to be
inferred that the mass of inland ice also fills the large bay
situated south of Jason Mountain, in the centre of which
lies Wetter Island. The background of the bay seems to
have a greatly varied {surface, whilst the country south of
the bay, as far as is known at present, and even beyond it
is possibly elevated, but more uniform in structure. We

GRAHAM’S AND ALEXANDER LANDS. 191

are wholly uninformed about the geological structure of
this newly-discovered country, and even about the varying
depths along the coast. We must meanwhile be content
with the knowledge of the existence of an extensive tract
of land.

Still less do we know about the west coast of Graham’s
Land. Biscoe only tells us that the country is elevated,
continuous, and, in his opinion, extensive. The published
narrative of Dallmann’s voyage, as well as that of Evensen,
leave us wholly in the lurch with respect to Graham’s Land.
Biscoe gives us scanty information only about the islands
he has discovered, but he has made several valuable
soundings. Pitt Island, which is the northernmost of
the group, abounds in bays, and may well be designated by
the epithet, the “‘ Elevated Snow Land,” which Evensen
applies to the southern members of the group. Adelaide
Island, situated at a great distance from the rest of the
group, is the highest of them all. It is formed by a
mountain chain about four miles in extent, from which
a very high summit rises in asteepascent. Biscoe seems
to have found the mountain tops partly free from ice, whilst
the lower regions were wholly glaciated, and terminated
at the coast in an icy barrier 10 to 12 feet high, the tops
of which were rent by large clefts. The soundings off
Adelaide Island yielded very peculiar results. Ata dis-
tance of about three miles from the coast a line of 1,500
feet failed to touch bottom. This isolated, steep and
lofty island may possibly also be of volcanic origin.

Alexander Land, finally, which Bellingshausen only
sighted from a distance of about forty-five miles, is de-
scribed as an elevated snow-clad region ; nevertheless, he
imagined that in places he had noticed the rocky subsoil
projecting from amidst the ice.

To Alexander Land are joined in the west, but at a
great distance, lands that have been sighted or conjectured,
the extreme outposts of our geographical knowledge in the

192 THE ANTARCTIC.

south-east of the Pacific; they are scanty, unreliable points
on our charts, which, nevertheless, may at some future
time coalesce and form extensive coast lines as the result
of later and more favourable times for south polar ex-
ploration.

The first of these islands is that discovered by Bell-
ingshausen, and named by him Peter I. Island. It has
been referred to in the history of discovery. It is situated
in latitude 68° 57’ S. and longitude 90° 46’ W., and
appears to be quite isolated, as Bellingshausen saw no
land anywhere in its neighbourhood. ‘The dimensions of
the island are, on obviously uncertain data, calculated by its
discoverer to be about eleven miles in length, five miles
in breadth and twenty-six miles in circumference ; the
mean height, calculated on the basis of three measure-
ments, appears to be 4,200 feet. Excepting several steep
slopes, the island was wholly covered with snow and ice.
The height and isolated position of the island seem to
favour the theory of volcanic origin, although there are
no indications whatever of volcanic activity.

Somewhat farther west, in about latitude 70° S. and
longitude 100° W., Walker believed in 1839 to have been
in sight of land for three hours ; this was during an interval
of clear weather in the midst of a snowstorm, as has
already been mentioned in the ‘“‘ History of Discovery”.
As he gives no description of this sight of land, it is not
impossible that he was the victim of a delusion. How-
ever, he sighted, somewhat to the west and at no great
distance from this spot, heavy, compact masses of pack-ice,
such as occur in the Antarctic seas mostly in the neigh-
bourhood of land, and he also encountered such enormous
masses of icebergs that the neighbourhood of land may
be inferred, even if his sight of land was deceptive, he
having mistaken, as he himself considers possible, a
débris-laden iceberg for land. But just this latter circum-
stance would more decisively speak in favour of the

GRAHAM’S AND ALEXANDER LANDS. 193

proximity of land than the indistinct and delusive appear-
ance of the same. Its existence is finally rendered probable
by the description given by Cook in his famous Ve
plus ultra referred to above. We repeat: In front of
of him he saw, in latitude 71° 10’ S. and longitude 106°
54’ W., beyond a zone of pack-ice a nautical mile in width,
a firm, compact, mass of ice, which appeared to be rather
low and flat. It increased greatly in height towards the
south, and supported ninety-seven ice-hills, many of which
were very high, and successively overtopped each other
till they disappeared in the clouds, giving thus the im-
pression of a complete mountain chain—which it prob-
ably was, as may be assumed with considerable certainty.
That common icebergs are not to be thought of in this
description is shown by the unusual term he employs,
and by the fact that the more distant masses tower above
the nearer ones ; icebergs are in any given region of
much the same height, and this would, according to the
rules of perspective, exclude the appearance here de-
scribed. Cook no doubt saw a mountainous country, and
the level and firm ice-field in front of it must have been
the well-known sheet of inland ice.

It would be extremely desirable that this region too
should be taken into consideration in the plans of future
south polar explorations. Actual examination alone can
definitively settle the question whether Peter I. Island, or
some land to the rear of it corresponding to Walker's
landsighting, and finally Cook’s sights of land, can be
combined into one general whole and connected with the
coast of Victoria Land. The opponents of the theory of
the existence of a south polar land, or even of a south
polar continent, ought not to forget that there is absolutely
nothing known that militates against the existence of such
land, because no land has been seen in regions not yet
reached by any ship; in other words, the assumption of
the existence of land is logically as justifiable as that of

et

194 THE ANTARCIAG:

water. In fact the great number of icebergs, met also in
the higher latitudes of the south-eastern Pacific, points
more distinctly to the presence than to the absence of
land, seeing that their origin can be traced only to
glaciers or inland ice.

Before passing over to the next large mass of land in
the Antarctic regions, we may make short mention of the
small, solitary Dougherty Island. It is situated in latitude
59 20'S. and longitude 119° 44’ W. (the mean of the only
two observations made), and presents the appearance of a
rock five to seven miles in length, high in the north-east,
flat in the south-west, and the centre covered by a glacier ;
its highest elevation might be about 300 feet, which is
slight in comparison to its extent. As it has only been
seen from a distance, and has never been visited, we know
nothing of its character or geology ; possibly it may be of
volcanic origin.

8. VICTORIA LAND.

A wide expanse, within which the 68° S. has nowhere
yet been crossed, divides the land probably sighted by
Cook from the nearest land seen in a westward direction,
viz., the extremest eastern point of Victoria Land seen by
Ross, or the identical place, where the highest southern
latitude has, up to now, been reached ; this is the eastern
extremity of the large ice barrier, beyond which its dis-
coverer beheld more land to the south of it. Between
this spot and the extreme western land seen by Ross
near Cape North, together with the adjoining ice barrier,
between 162 30 W. and 165 E) extends the: wade
region of Victoria Land and Ross Sea.

The northernmost point of this considerable mass of
land is Cape North, situated in latitude 70° 31’ S. and
longitude 165° 28’ E. From it elevated land seems to

VICTORIA LAND. 195

stretch in a south-west direction, whilst the lofty ice
barrier in front of it extends beyond the horizon in a
westerly direction. In the other direction the coast line
of Victoria Land trends from Cape North to Cape Adare,
in latitude 71° 18’ S., for a distance of about 125 miles,
showing many a deep fjord, of which Yule Bay and
Smith Inlet are the most important, whilst Cape Adare,
with its far - projecting, coast forms Robertson Bay.
The coast is lined by islets and cliffs in front of it,
which are still more numerous and extensive on the
eastern coast of the country. This trends due south from
Cape Adare to’ Cape Cotter in latitude 72° 39° °S, and
longitude 170° 50’ E. This tract of coast, about ninety
miles in length, is also interrupted by numerous bays, of
which, according to Ross’s chart, Mowbray Bay seems
the most important. The coast is fronted by a row of
islets, possibly beginning with “ Doubtful Island,” to which
also belong “‘ Possession Island,” twice visited by Ross
and by the crew of the Axtarctic ; the distance of these
islands from the mainland is inconsiderable. Between
Cape Cotter and Cape Philipps, which forms an im-
portant turning-point of the coast in latitude 73° S.
and longitude 169° 55’ E., lies Tucker Bay, which is
broad and penetrates deep inland and is overlooked on
both sides by lofty summits. From Cape Philipps as far
as Cape, Sibbald in lat. 74° 6’ S. and Jong, 166.47 E.,
extends in a wide, but shallow, curve a bay that is still
unnamed, with a distance of 100 miles between the two
extremities. In front of it lies a large island called
Coulman Island, and near Cape Sibbald the small
Kay Islets. From Cape Sibbald the coast extends in
a gentle curve $.S.W. and 5.5.E., assuming an easterly
direction at McMurdo Bay. At the very beginning
of this stretch of coast line Wood Bay, deep and
wide, breaks in between Cape Sibbald at the foot of
Mount Monteagle and the foot of the yet loftier

196 THE ANTARCTIC.

Mount Melbourne. Between Cape Washington at the
southern end of Wood Bay and Cape Gauss, latitude

160° 0) Lv. 162°Greenmich 166° 168° 170° 172°
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76 9’ S,., longitude 162° 52’ E., Ross was unable to

keep the low coast in view, but the lofty mountains

VICTORIA LAND. 197

to the back of it were well defined. A small island lies
in front of Cape Gauss, and it is possible that there
may be at a distance of another sixty miles to E.N.E.
‘Doubtful Island,” but the sighting was uncertain.

McMurdo Bay already mentioned lies at the north-
west base of Mount Erebus, and is bounded on the east
by Cape Bird which projects far to the north from the
volcano in latitude 77° 9’ S., longitude 166° 4o’ E. Asan
elevated prolongation of this promontory Beaufort Island
lies sixteen miles to the north. Franklin Island, fourteen
miles long and half as wide, lies about fifty-five miles
from Beaufort Island in the direction of N.N.E. by N.

From Cape Bird the foot of Mount Terror now forms
the coast, extending E.S.E. as far as Cape Crozier in
latitude 77° 25’ S. and longitude 169° 10’ E. \Here it is
attached to the gigantic and uninterrupted mass of the
Great Ice Barrier along which Ross sailed a distance of
440 to 500 miles as far as latitude 78° 10’ S. and longitude
161° 36’ W. This is the greatest ice barrier hitherto
known on the face of the earth, and in extent corresponds
approximately to the straight outlines of the continental
coast between Calais and Sylt off Holstein.

The characteristic that distinguishes Victoria Land
from all other south polar tracts hitherto seen is its
great elevation above sea-level. This and the form of
the mountains visible from the sea unfortunately constitute
almost all the information we possess about it. For all
acquaintance with its geological structure the scanty
investigations of Ross, when he landed on Possession
Island and Franklin Island, and those of Borchgrevingk
on Cape Adare and also on Possession Island or an islet
of the same chain, are the only source. Unfortunately,
Ross had no real artist on board, and the drawings ac-
companying his work, which are faithfully copied in the
present work, frequently bear the unmistakable stamp of
an amateur’s impressions. This defect, without the com-

198 THE ANTARCTIC.

pensation of over-accuracy, prevents that acquaintance
with the external aspect of the country which might
otherwise have been gained.

Above the whole sweep of the northern coast of
Victoria Land, east and west of North Cape, the elevated
chain of the Admiralty Range rises in innumerable
summits, frequently conical, and many attaining great
heights, according to the estimates and measurements
of Ross. In the west Mount Elliot above Yule Bay is
the highest ; in the east near Cape Adare Mount Sabine

Mount Sabine and Possession Island (after Ross).

rises 9,000 to 10,000 feet about thirty miles from the
coast. The whole mountain range is completely glaciated,
and the ice covering ‘everywhere sinks into the sea,
indeed as has already been stated an immense ice barrier
extending west from Cape North, which it joins, here
reaches a height of 140 to 160 feet. The mass of ice
projects several nautical miles beyond the cape into the
sea, but of course it is not known how far the edge lies
beyond the actual land farther west. To the east of
the cape there certainly appears to be no unbroken belt

Oe Se

VICTORIA LAND. 199

of ice along the coast, but every bay, every indentation
carries off the inland ice into the sea, and all these
openings are closed in by ice walls 180 to 450 feet in
height. The last measurement, never met with in ice-
bergs and ice barriers elsewhere, points to the fact that
these masses of ice rest on the sea bottom, and this
conjecture is supported by the soundings taken by Ross.
These are in so far of great interest that they indicate a
comparatively gentle descent of the continental base off
the elevated mountain coast. About thirty-seven miles
from Cape North the soundings gave only 1,000 feet—no
great depth when compared with those off the coast of
the Cordilleras. Whether geological or glacial action is
accountable for the existence of this submarine terrace
is naturally very doubtful.

The only point free from ice hitherto seen or landed
upon on the north coast of Victoria Land is Cape Adare,
already frequently named as lying in front of the foot of
Mount Sabine. It rises as a huge boulder of basalt rock to
a height of 3,500 to 4,600 feet above the surface of the sea,
to which its foot descends as a long extended peninsula,
with a level shore covered with shingle. It is not certain
of what rock the cape is composed, as a great block of
nephelin-tephrite was found on the shore and not attached
to it, although it may belong to the cape. Even in this
high latitude sparse vegetation was found to exist in the
form of a lichen in particularly sheltered spots.

According to the observations of Borchgrevingk the
neighbourhood of Cape Adare must still be in a state of
volcanic activity. A summit of 7,900 feet, scarcely covered
with snow in the midst of the dazzling white mountains,
suggested the probability of a recent eruption, and on
two out of twenty glaciers counted by Borchgrevingk
vast masses of snow seemed to alternate with layers of
lava above the ice.

The portion of the coast between Cape Adare and

200 THE ANTARCTIC:

Cape Cotter exhibits the same characteristics as the
north coast, only here the mountain summits seem to
rise still higher, 11,800 to 13,800 feet; the highest and
most prominent height of this range is Mount Herschell.
Here too every coast indentation is completely filled up
by vast glaciers again resting on the sea bottom and
unable to break away and float. At a distance of two
to three miles from the coast Ross sounded depths of only
350 to 550 feet, an insufficient depth for floating Antarctic
icebergs of ordinary size. The chain of low islets lying
at a short distance from the coast consists entirely of
volcanic rocks if an inference may be drawn from one of
them, Possession Island, latitude 71° 56’ S., longitude
171° 7 E., visited both by Ross and the crew of the
Antarctic. The rocks were partly porous hornblende
basalt free from olivin which here and there showed
columnar detachment. On the south-west Possession
Island bears two pointed heights of 300 feet each, and
was pretty nearly free from snow on the occasion of both
landings; it had, however, a thick covering of guano
deposited by the innumerable penguins that inhabit the
island. On a rock at about twenty-eight feet above sea-
level Borchgrevingk found the same lichen that appears
on Cape Adare.

Cape Wheatstone, the boundary of Tucker Bay on
the north, is completely covered with ice at the top,
while the steep descent is free from snow; and farther
south a cape with two heights, perhaps Cape Jones, is
equally steep and free from snow. For the rest this
section of the coast is evidently entirely covered with
ice, and the same is in the main true of Coulman Island
the centre of which lies about latitude 73° 36’ S., longi-
tude 170° 2’ E. According to the chart drawn by Ross it
must be of tolerable extent, with a length of at least
eighteen miles; with perhaps the exception of Cape
Anne, the height of the island appears inconsiderable,

VICTORIA LAND. 201

otherwise Ross would have made mention of it. Accord-
ing to the view given by him and here reproduced, Coul-
man Island, with the exception of the steep face of the
rocks, is completely enveloped in ice and snow.

Very little is known concerning Capes Philipps and
Sibbald, as Ross was unable to approach near enough
to gain a good view on account of the heavy land-ice.
Cape Sibbald lies at the foot of Mount Monteagle, one
of the highest mountains of Victoria Land, looking down
with its steep summit on the others, and overtopped

Coulman Island (after Ross).

only by Mount Melbourne, the hignest known summit
of the south polar regions, said to be nearly 15,000 feet
high. The outlines of Mount Melbourne, which bear
a striking resemblance to those of Mount Etna, and also
its crater at the top, evidently indicate its volcanic nature.
At the same time Mount Melbourne marks the boundary
of the coast actually seen by Ross, although he saw a lofty
mountain chain in the west, the Prince Albert range,
which either really is considerably less lofty than the
other parts of Victoria Land, or only appears to be so on

202 THE ANTARCTIC.

account of its great distance. It is certain that the
coast, which Ross was able to approach as near as
twelve and a half to thirteen miles off Cape Gauss, is.
low and apparently flat.

Although “ Doubtful Island,” as before stated, may
have been only an iceberg heavily laden with déérzs,
Franklin Island, where the landing was very dangerous,
is undoubtedly a volcanic formation. The north side of
the island shows a dark, steep cliff, 500 to 590 feet in
height, traversed by a number of light-coloured hori-
zontal layers several feet deep, and with yellowish red
colour here and there—these may be layers of pumice
stone partly decomposed by gaseous exhalations, On
the south and south-west side the island is girt in by
a lofty ice barrier. Soundings indicate that Franklin
Island is to be regarded as the highest point of a
volcanic ridge extending from north to south, for four-
teen miles north of the island the measurements gave
1,194 feet, and these gradually decreased to 305 feet six
miles to the north-west, and 220 to 250 feet at two anda
half to four miles out. On the south a range of cliffs
extends above water for upwards of five miles. A con-
tinuation of the line of direction leads straight to Beaufort
Island, conical and small, but lofty, lying about two miles
off Cape Bird and thus also off Mount Erebus.

Mount Erebus, whose base sends out a peninsular
projection—Cape Bird—to the north, forms the eastern
boundary of MacMurdo Bay, which is broad and deep,
and rises from the low land adjacent to it on the west
to a height of 12,000 feet in round numbers. It is
therefore not only relatively, but absolutely, one of the
loftiest volcanoes on the earth, since it may be assumed
that the enormous mass consists for the greater part of
eruptive and ejected rock from the very level of the sea.
The form of the mountain is a regular cone, and during
the visit of Ross the centre of eruption was on the

VICTORIA LAND. 203

summit; although in a state of violent activity the cone
was completely covered with snow to about 300 feet from
the crater. In January, 1841, the eruptions took place
about every half-hour, and on each occasion a cloud of
steam and ashes, apparently 150 to 300 feet in diameter,
was hurled 1,200 feet to 2,000 feet high into the air.
When the cloud had disappeared the retlection of the
glowing lava could distinctly be perceived, indeed some
of the officers thought they could see streams of lava
flowing down till they were lost under the covering of

Volcano of Mt. Erebus and Beaufort Island (after Ross).

snow. Three weeks later the eruptions were more
violent, but no lava was seen flowing off.

About twelve miles from the summit of Mount Erebus,
its sister mountain, Mount Terror, rises to a height of
say 10,000 feet. It was not in a state of eruption, but
is also unmistakably a volcano, as could be seen by the
remarkable absence of snow on its surface and by its
outlines ; numerous small parasitic crater cones appeared
on the true cone, two especially near the north-eastern
foot of the mountain by Cape Crozier stand out very

204 — THE ANTARCTIC.

prominently, though this is not apparent in the ac-
companying reproduction of a sketch taken from the
account of his voyages by Ross. Both mountains are the
northernmpbst outposts of a lofty mountain range, the Parry
Mountains, extending south to latitude 79° S. and perhaps
farther still, as Ross saw their summits rising high above
the great ice barrier which joins Mount Terror on the east.

Scarcely any natural feature of the Antarctic world
has at any time so stirred the imagination and so
roused scientific interest as the discovery of this great
ice barrier, kat é€oxyv. It is true that the icy covering
of Mount Erebus projects with vertical face several miles
into the sea, but this would in no wise astonish the
discoverer, as the same phenomenon may be observed
everywhere among the glaciers of Victoria Land. The
most surprising characteristics of the great ice barrier
are its unbroken uniformity, its vast extent, and the
entire absence of visible land from its edge. From
Cape “Crozier, latitude 77° 25) Si; longitude Gouna
E., to latitude 78° S. and longitude 169° W., the barrier
extended—in January and February, 1841, at least—
uniformly, without perceptible indentation, and with
very few and slight variations in height. It was highest
near Mount Terror, for here, where the mass of ice
probably rests on the sea bottom, a height of 180 to
280 feet was observed, while farther east it was, on the
whole, nearly 130 to 150 feet. It was only in the last
position mentioned that Ross observed the irregularity
referred to above in the account of his voyages, with
one still more marked to the east of the point he attained.
The more broken face of the barrier, as well as the
appearance of icebergs covered with detritus, tend to
prove that Ross was not mistaken concerning the land
seen in latitude?73° 10° S: and longitude 1611 30 Ve
and that it is probable that the great barrier here comes
to an end, or at least to the end of its uniform course.

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206 THE ANTARCTIC.

It is difficult to gain any more detailed notion of
the connection among themselves of isolated portions
of Victoria Land, without entering upon over-fantastic
speculations. A lofty mountain chain is seen rising steep
and abrupt from the sea, extending from north-west to
south-east and then on the whole to the south-west, till
growing lower, they turn south-east and east in high
latitudes with a final curve south. The summits probably
consist principally of volcanic matter, like the outlying
islands, and the mineral specimens obtained support
this conjecture. At the same time it would be absurd
to assign a purely volcanic structure to the whole of
the extensive country, and non-eruptive minerals brought
up from the ocean bed moreover militate against such a
theory. The single block of true granite brought up
by the dredging net near Coulman Island is sufficient
to prove that in the region of Victoria Land also old
crystalline rocks must be present, that an early geological
formation has to be reckoned with, in which the great
outlines of the mountain structures are merely accompanied
on the coasts by volcanoes of far later origin. It is worthy
of notice that from the only volcano in Victoria Land
known to be active, a chain of volcanic islands runs in
nearly a direct line northwards— Beaufort Island, Franklin
Island, Coulman Island and Possession Island. Hans
Reiter, in the work already frequently referred to, gives
it as his opinion that the coast of Victoria Land is formed
by a contorted range, the continuation of the great Western
Pacific curve, of which the last recognisable ranges are
those of Stewart Island to the south of New Zealand.
He further assumes that the Parry Mountains turn east,
and that the contorted island range seen by Ross at the
east end of the ice barrier is continued across Graham’s
Land, thus completing the circle of the Pacific range.
Even though it be necessary to guard againt rash or
premature conclusions, and though the hypothesis by

VICTORIA LAND. 207

no means includes the proof, it is nevertheless true
that Reiter’s conception is worthy of notice, and that it
it seems to come near the actual facts. A portion of
detritus brought home by Borchgrevingk from Cape
Adare proves that the region of Victoria Land has been
subject to powerful structural revolutions in its geological
past. This specimen, a fragment of granite, showed under
the microscope that its crystalline components had been
completely pulverised and subsequently cemented by
silicious matter, a condition which can be observed in
all the heavily compressed crystalline minerals of contorted
ranges. It is not to be denied that much may be urged
against this view. In the first place, the soundings
made of the sea bottom in Ross Sea in no wise bear
out the widely accepted coincidence supposed to exist
between the greatest depths and the most striking
structural features of the contorted coast. So far as is
known no really great depth has been found to exist in
Ross Sea; the deepest sounding taken by Ross, 2,700
feet without touching the bottom, was in latitude 74° 40’
S. and longitude 166° W., far distant from any known
land ; in the neighbourhood of land on the contrary the
soundings gave much lower, and at the same time
extremely variable, measurements. Thus the depth about
six miles from Cape Adare was found to be gg1 feet,
while 135 miles east of Cape Phillips the depth was only
1,082 feet, descending towards the coast to 1,260 feet,
no great depth when compared with those off the
Cordillera range, Japan, the curve of the Sunda Isles,
and other portions of the great contorted system. The
greatest depth actually measured descends no farther
than 2,450 feet, and this sounding was taken near the
edge of the great ice barrier about 105 miles east of
Mount Erebus, while the greatest depth measured nearer
land was 2,150 feet, between Franklin Island and
MacMurdo Bay. Of course it might be urged that the

208 THE ANTARCTIC.

smaller depths may be attributed to the effects of the
glacial period in which vast masses of detritus must have
been deposited, but if great depths descending thousands
of feet had really existed near the coast of Victoria Land,
they would certainly never have been so greatly
diminished by glacial deposits. All thought of such a
possibility must be relinquished, and it must be assumed
that the relative shallowness of Ross Sea is due to
structural causes. Submarine eruptions may perhaps be
responsible for the striking variations, or the lesser depths
indicate ridges of glacial deposits as compared with the
greater depths. This conclusion, in all probability,
applies to a bank near the eastern section of the great
ice barrier, where depths of 1,076 to 1,135 feet are
found at a distance of thirty to forty-six miles from the.
barrier. No certain light therefore is thrown on the
structure of Victoria Land by the soundings taken, and
vague uncertainty must for the present be accepted in
this respect, and also in that of its connection with the
countries in South America, and with its neighbours,
Wilkes Land, and the Balleny Isles, to which we now
proceed, —

9. THE BALLENY ISLES.

Almost exactly in the same meridian as the western-
most point of Victoria Land, seen by Ross, but nearly 4°,
2.c., some 280 miles, farther north, the high volcanic group
of the Balleny Isles rises from the deep. As far as is
known at present it consists of three larger and two
smaller islands, and the middle island of the former, Buckle
Island, was in active eruption in two places when Balleny
visited them. Accurate measurements, confirmed by Ross
also, show that their lofty western extremity is situated in
latitude 66° 44’ S. and longitude 163° 11’ E. Tothe east
of it lies Sturge Island, which is also one of the larger ones

BALLENY ISLES. 209

and is cone-shaped, but does not reach half the height
of Young Island, the largest and highest of the group,
which contains Mount Freeman, estimated by Balleny at
a height of 11,800 to 12,000 feet. Between the two last-
named larger islands lies Borrodaile Island, which is
smaller and less elevated, and, finally, farthest to the west
lies Row Island, which is low and exhibits no special
features.

The surface appears completely glaciated, and it is only
at the coast that the steep cliffs show the rocky nature of
the islands ; their petrographic character is shown by the
specimens secured by Balleny after having effected a
dangerous landing; the rock consists of dense, scori-
ated, olivine basalt, different from the basalt of the
Possession Isles, which contains no olivine. The
volcanic character of the islands, together with their
inconsiderable distance from the eastern extremity of
Wilkes Land, gives them a decisive character in the
estimation of the geological structure of these regions ;
and this becomes still more enhanced by the fact that Ross
sighted a second group of islands situated to the south-east
of these. In the “ History of Discovery” we have pointed
out that the three Russell Islands, sighted by Ross, might
possibly be identical with the Balleny Isles, and further
investigation alone can settle this question. Russell Peak,
the highest of these islands, lies, according to Ross’s
measurements in latitude 67° 28’ S, and longitude 165°
30’ E.,-which is 1° further S. and 2° further E. than Buckle
Island, as measured by Balleny ; but as on the one hand
Balleny’s observations are evidently very accurate, and
on the other hand Ross also had seen land due west
of the latitude observed by Balleny, it may be inferred
that the two groups are not identical. From this as-
sumption would follow the existence of a volcanic range,
extending from the south-east to the north-west, and thus

repeating the direction of the coast of Victoria Land from
; 14

210 THE ANTARCTIC.

Cape Adare to Cape North. It may further be inferred
that in analogy with other volcanic ranges those of the
Balleny and Russell Isles indicate a techtonic line of
fracture, which being situated farther south and south-
west, would constitute the still problematical connecting
link between Victoria Land and Wilkes Land. Un-
fortunately soundings are still wanting which might
supply some data for the determination of the submarine
south-eastward direction of this hypothetical volcanic ridge;
true, Ross has made a few soundings, but these do not lie
in the line of the groups of islands ; still they are of interest
in so far as they prove the proportionate rapid increase
in depth as the distance increases. Thus, at a distance
of twenty-eight miles from the northern coast of Victoria
Land the depth indicated was only 1,075 feet, whilst at
a distance of 125 miles from the same coast the lead failed
to touch bottom at a depth of 2,400 feet.

ro. WILKES LAND.

The coast of Wilkes Land extends east to west at an
almost invariable latitude ; it may be regarded as the
longest coast line yet seen in the Antarctic regions, but
its unbroken continuity is still a mere hypothesis. In the
account we gave of Wilkes’ voyage we called attention
to the fact that he lost sight of the land for consider-
able distances, and accordingly it is not impossible that,
instead of a continent, Wilkes had sighted a chain of
islands. We shall see, however, that the probability of
this latter assumption is not greater, but rather less, than
that of the theory, that all the separate portions of land
sighted are parts of an unbroken whole.

Ringgold’s Knoll is the easternmost point of land
distinctly seen by Wilkes and his companions. It is

211

WILKES LAND.

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situated about 67° S. and 158° E.; the westernmost point
is Knox’s Highland in latitude 66° 30’ S. and longitude
105 30 E. ‘Termination Land,” entered on most maps
in longitude 95° E., and described by Wilkes himself as an
indistinct ‘‘appearance” of land, seems, according to the
observations of the Challenger, to have no real existence.
Assuming the coast of Wilkes Land to be continuous,
then it would, exclusive of bays and gulfs, have an extent
of some 1,750 miles—a long tract. The coast attains its
northernmost point at Cape Carr, part of the Clarie coast,
situated in round numbers in latitude 65° S. and longitude
132. BE. The deepest inlet is “ Disappomtment Baya.
where Wilkes advanced to longitude 147° 30’ E. and
latitude 67° 5’ S., without sighting the southern ex-
tremity of the bay.

The land sightings from Ringgold’s Knoll to the
western extremity of Dumont d’Urville’s Adélie Land
extend, in about latitude 67° S., in a due east and west
direction from 158° E. to 137° E.; then the coast projects
in a north-west direction as far as Cape Carr, whence it
curves almost due south to possibly 65° 45’ S.; next it
again pursues a westerly direction to about 66° S., as
far the extremity of Knox’s Highland. Budd’s Highland
alone seems, according to Wilkes’ account, to project to
about latitude 65° S.

Of the general nature of the country we know exceed-
ingly little ; since Balleny’s visit in 1839, and those of
Wilkes and Dumont d’Urville in 1840, not a single ship
has approached these regions to confirm and extend the
first discoveries. All the knowledge we possess of these
regions is based on descriptions of views obtained from
greater or less distances, and frequently interrupted by
fogs and snowstorms.

Little is known of the eastern extremity of Wilkes.
Land of the elevations named by Wilkes, Ringgold’s
Knoll, Eld’s Peak, and Reynold’s Peak. On the 16th

WILKES LAND. 213

of January, 1840, land was distinctly sighted for the first
time. Thethree vessels, the Vzxcennes, the Peacock and the
Porpotse, lay at no great distance from each other within
their several horizons, the Peacock being south-east of
the Porforse. From the former of these two vessels a
chain of mountains was perceived, from which two sum-
mits clearly stood out, respectively named Eld’s Peak
and Reynold’s Peak ; between both, several mountain
ridges extended in apparently parallel lines, on which other
peaks rose whose summits were shrouded in clouds.
Ringgold on the Porfotse saw only one elevation, which
to him appeared to be an island, as it did also to Wilkes
on the Vexcennes. The height of the mountains was esti-
mated by Eld and Reynold at about 1,000 to 2,000 feet,
obviously too low an estimate, all the other elevations of
Wilkes Land appearing to be considerably higher. It
seems to us that the different aspects presented by the
land and the low estimates of the elevations may both be
due to the fact that the land was situated a good deal
further south, and that what the discoverers had perceived
was a mountain chain beyond, extending south-east or
south-south-east ; from the Peacock, lying farther to the
south-east, the land presented the appearance of a moun-
tain chain seen from the flank ; the Porvforse had more of
a front view of it, consequently the whole mass appeared
as a single elevation. From the Vzucennes Wilkes ob-
tained the same view as Ringgold from the Porforse ; he
called it “ Ringgold’s Knoll,” erroneously making two
sightings of land out of a single one. This view of the
matter is, however, to be regarded as a mere hypothetical
attempt to clear up a confused account, to be refuted or
confirmed by a more accurate survey of the coast. It
seems probable that this easternmost sight of land is far
more likely to be part of a long connected coast, extend-
ing possibly as far as Victoria Land, than a chain of small
islands as is assumed in Petermann’s otherwise excellent

214 THE ANTARCTIC,

south polar chart, which has been universally copied
(Stzeler's Hand Atlas, No. 7).

The next coast line sighted by Wilkes was in 66° 20
S. and 154° 30 E., when he beheld land both in the
S.S.E. andin the S.W. The former sighting of land was
entered in the English Admiralty chart as Eld’s Peak and
Reynold’s Peak, but according to the above theory in-

/

Cape Hudson, as seen from U.S.S. Peacock on 19th January, 1840 (after Wilkes).

correctly, as these elevations must lie farther east. The
cape projecting farther west, approached comparatively
near by the Peacock, was seen much more distinctly,
and was named by Wilkes “‘ Cape Hudson” in honour of
the captain of the Peacock. Some descriptions of it
from various distances may enable us to form some notion
of this cape. Like the land previously seen, it consists

Cape Hudson, as seen from U.S.S. Peacock on toth January, 1840 (after Wilkes).

along its whole extent of two parallel chains successively
rising like an amphitheatre ; they are wholly covered with
snow, and attain a height of about 3,000 feet. Since land
was also seen in the south, it does not seem improbable
that it encircles the deep bay towards the east, and is
connected with the elevations seen in the same direction.
On the other side Cape Hudson is joined by the broad
Peacock Bay, at the back of which land was distinctly seen

WILKES LAND. 215

both to the east and to the west, and its westernmost
promontory was named Emmon’s Point. Icebergs
covered with déé77s, sure harbingers of approaching land,
had been observed near this bay by the Porfozse before

land was actually seen.

SS Ses rr

Bs

View of Adélie Land at Cap de la Découverte (after Dumont d’Urville).

Emmon’s Point is succeeded by ‘“ Disappointment
bay, bordered im the west by “Case Point”. Its
southernmost coast, beset by pack-ice, could not be
examined, in consequence of which the charts of the coast

aah
ont d’Urville).

Sl ae
Ss Ge eee ee ed

Adélie Land (after Dum

here leave a gap. On the other side of ‘Case Point”
also, no land was seen for a considerable distance in con-
sequence of bad weather, but then we come to a tract of
coast of Wilkes Land, vzz., Adélie Land, which is the

216 THE ANTARCTIC.

most extensive yet seen, and of which we possess obser-
vations and drawings made by Dumont d’Urville, which
agree very nearly with those made by Wilkes. The land
seems to have a tolerably uniform elevation of 3,000 feet
according to Wilkes, or of 3,280 to 3,900 feet according to
Dumont d@’Urville. Not a single prominent summit rises
above these level undulating uplands, whose glaciated
declivities descend gradually to the coast, terminating
almost everywhere in the familiar, vertical ice barrier ; at
one spot only D’Urville saw the bare rock projecting
above the icy covering, forming a cape, noticeable more
by its colour than by its shape. D’Urville called a certain
shallow bay along the coast the ‘ Baie des Ravines” ; the

Pointe Géologie (after Dumont d’ Urville).

point of the coast first approached by him the ‘“ Cap de
la Découverte,” and another near which it was possible to
land, ‘‘ Pointe Géologie”. The illustrations here given
are taken from the surveys of D’Urville and of Wilkes.
The coast seen here with greater accuracy comprises an
extent of 125 to 140 miles, encircled everywhere by an ice
barrier. Its monotony forms a perfect contrast to the
striking irregularities observed in various places of the snow
and ice-clad country. Near the ‘‘ Cap de la Découverte,”
which bounds Wilkes’ Piners Bay in the east, extensive
clefts were observed, and perhaps also gullies filled with
water from melted ice ; elsewhere the snow presented an
appearance as though it had been furrowed by a plough,

WILKES LAND. Qe

and in open unprotected places it lay in ridges like the
sand ina wind-lashed desert. It is highly probable that
D’Urville saw real snow-dunes, similar to the mighty
snow-drifts distinctly observed on the higher levels of the
country. The greatest disturbances were noticed on the
inland ice at the back of the “‘ Baie des Ravines,” where
it was so traversed by intersecting systems of clefts that
the country appeared to be strewn with isolated gigantic
ice-blocks. Characteristically enough the very iceberg
bore traces of these convulsions ; their sides were per-

Coast Island at Pointe Géologie (after Dumont d’Urville).

pendicular as usual, but their surfaces were a chaos of ice
fragments. Inthe neighbourhood of “ Pointe Géologie ”
a chain of rocky islets lies fronting the coast, and on one
of them D’Urville effected a landing, in consequence of
which we possess some geological knowledge of at least
this one spot. It is highly interesting to learn that here
also crystalline slate was found—gneiss or amphibolite, or
probably both ; the summit of the islet visited was broken
up into blocks. Of vegetation nothing was seen on this
the only spot of Wilkes Land visited by man. The

218 THE ANTARCTIC.

portions of these cliffs nearest to the land or ice barrier
were only about two to three furlongs off from these latter,
and from them could be clearly seen some summits near
the coast free from ice, but all the rest were fully glaciated.
This ice barrier is, however, less high than that of Victoria
Land ; its mean altitude being only 100 to 140 feet, and
the icebergs also attain corresponding heights. Farther

SS eee SL a Mg EN

Adélie Land, as seen from U.S.S Vincennes on 30th January, 1840 (after Wilkes).

west, on the other hand, in longitude 137° E., Wilkes found
heights of 150 to 200 feet.

The continuation of Adélie Land towards the north-
west was not seen by D’Urville, as he steered too far
north, but Wilkes kept it constantly in view, and saw its
outlines distinctly beyond the mass of inland ice of the
Clarie coast, which projects far to the north. But it seems
to be here-somewhat lower than it is farther east, or else
it is asomewhat larger island in front of the coast, or even a

one ence a
ee BE Fink BLL
ei ee eT .

Adélie Land, as seen from U.S.S Vincennes on 1st February, 1840 (after Wilkes).

peninsula wholly glaciated like the rest. This is to be in-
ferred from the circumstance that the Povforse had sailed
from the east into a long and rather narrow bay, whose
coasts south, west and north are beset by vertical walls of
ice. The theory that a gigantic mass of ice had got detached
there and drifted north is not tenable—the Clarie coast, that
is to say, the northern flank of the supposed peninsula,
having been seen by Balleny in the same position a year

WILKES LAND. 219

before D’Urville and Wilkes. Ringgold estimates the
height of the ice walls in the interior of the bay to be
about 150 feet, whilst D’Urville states it to be in the
north 100 to 150 feet, and also notices that the outlines
follow a somewhat irregular course. The western coast
of the country, which stretches, as has already been
pointed out, far to the south, seems not to be different
in character from the rest.

The next piece of land that was seen was “ North’s
Highland,” separated from the rest by ‘‘ Porpoise Bay,”
and also surrounded by a lofty ice barrier, exhibiting, when
Wilkes visited it, a very irregular course towards the west.
In the same direction the land gradually passes into

= —— —

View of the coast of Clarie from a distance of six nautical miles (after Dumont
d’Urville).

“Sabrina Land,” first discovered by Balleny, and desig-
nated in its western part by Wilkes as ‘“ Totten’s High-
land”. Here is, once more, a large gap on our maps,
due to the prevalence of fog and snowstorms, which
caused Wilkes to lose sight of both land and ice barrier.
On the other hand there is farther to the north ‘“‘ Budd’s
Highland,” a lofty mountain chain, which exhibits a
greatly varied configuration, notwithstanding its being
wholly enveloped in snow. Here the coast seems to
recede somewhat to the south, but soon afterwards it
resumes its east to west direction. Wilkes named this
section ‘ Knox’s Highland”. This coast, sighted in
66° S. and 106° 19’ E., probably extends for a distance of

220 THE ANTARCTIC,

ninety miles; the elevations attain, like the others of
Wilkes Land, a height of 10,000 to 11,000 feet; they
ascend gently to rounded summits, whose ice covering
terminates in the usual ice barrier. Ringgold, who
describes the elevations of that district as lofty cones,
probably fell a victim to the familiar optical delusion of
over-estimating the angle of inclination.

Over the whole tract from Cape Carr to Knox’s High-
land both Wilkes and Ringgold fell in with numerous
icebergs, thickly covered with déérzs, which are such sure
indications of neighbouring land, that its proximity would
be regarded as highly probable, even if it had not been
actually seen by both of them as wellas by Balleny. Near
the last sighting of land Ringgold specially noticed that
the ice barrier, as well as the icebergs originating from it,
appear quite dark in consequence of the heavy masses
of débris they held in clearly distinguishable strata. The
rocks of this ice-bound conglomerate consisted of red
sandstone, granite (perhaps gneiss), red clay and dark
mud, as well as sand in great masses. Wilkes mentions
basalt ; this would be highly interesting, but unfortunately
the conformation of the coast, added to the fact, that
Wilkes frequently mistook dark rocks for basalt, lead to
the suspicion that anerror has crept in, and that crystalline
slate, or perhaps amphibolite, has been erroneously des-
ignated as basalt.

Débris-covered icebergs were seen not merely in the
neighbourhood of the land actually sighted, but Wilkes
as el as Ringgold have encountered them farther west ;
Wilkes, indeed, as far as 100° E., which is at no great
distance from the spot where in longitude 97° 37’ E. and
latitute 64° 1’ S. he believed he had seen the last indication
of land called ‘‘ Termination Land”. It has been
mentioned above that in 1874 the Challenger made a near
approach to this spot from the west without noticing any
trace of land, whence it may be inferred that Wilkes’

WILKES LAND, 22h

supposed sight of land was after all deceptive in spite of
the very numerous icebergs he saw, and which led him
to believe in the nearness of land. The map certainly
does not support Wilkes’ testimony, he having himself
falsely indicated the existence of land west of the position
above described, whilst at the same time he mentions the
south-west as the direction in which it was seen, and adds
that it seemed to extend to the north. It is, however, not
absolutely impossible that ‘‘ Termination Land” may have
been raised by strong refraction high above the horizon,
and that it may consequently still exist, but farther south.
It is possible that the coast of Wilkes Land, in its
conjectured extent, trends to the south and thus forms a
west coast, whence the icebergs drift towards the north,
and meeting those of the north coast, forming the gigantic
accumulation of bergs which blocked Wilkes’ progress to
the east and that of Nares to the west.

If we take a general survey of Wilkes Land we may
be justified in assuming that it consists of a tolerably old
mass built up of crystalline slate and sediments, the edge
of which follows a due east and west direction, is entirely
glaciated, and shows mere moderate elevations. The sub-
marine base of the land obviously descends to the sea
bottom more steeply than in Victoria Land, in spite of the
slight elevations of the country ; this is proved by the
soundings, albeit few in number, which have here been
made. For example, about sixty-five miles north of the
supposed position of Ringgold’s Knoll or Eld’s Peak a
depth of 5,105 feet was sounded ; in Peacock Bay, about
seventeen to twenty miles from the coast, a depth of 4,816
feet was sounded, but a little to the north of it the lead
indicated a depth of only 1,923 feet. All other soundings
failed to reach the bottom at depths varying from goo to
1,825 feet. In Piner’s Bay, near Pointe Géologie, Wilkes
found a rocky bottom at a depth of only 180 feet. The
remarkable proximity of a comparatively great depth near

222 THE ANTARCTIC.

the landin Peacock Bay, which does not amount to nearly
the half at a greater distance, calls to mind the state of
things in Ross Sea near the great ice barrier. From
those two soundings it might be inferred that Peacock
Bay was shut off in the north by a rise in the sea bottom,
whose proximate cause might be the accumulation of glacial
débris ; but it is questionable whether such an enormous
terminal moraine may readily be ascribed to such an
accumulation.

The position of Wilkes Land, as compared with
Victoria Land, is supremely interesting, especially as
these two most extensive of all the known coasts of the
Antarctic regions exhibit, in consequence of the existence
of volcanoes, distinctly different characters, both techtonic,
geological and orographic. It will be specially incumbent
on future discoverers to fill up the gap in the coast line
between Wilkes Land and Victoria Land; indeed an
accurate survey of Wilkes Land alone would be of great
value in order finally either to justify or remove the doubts
entertained about the credibility of Wilkes’ communica-
tions. It must be admitted that for passing the winter in
ships this coast would be hardly more suitable than that of
Victoria Land, and for an overland journey to the mag-
netic pole, such as stands on the programme of future
explorers, the coast of Wilkes Land is probably at too
great a distance. This theory is based on the supposition,
which certainly is not yet proved, that Victoria Land as
wellas Wilkes Land are not proportionately narrow islands
or chains of islands, but the termination of extensive,
possibly connected, lands at their rear; in fact this question
is intimately connected with the problem of an Antarctic
continent, which can be definitively solved only by future
explorations. At asubsequent stage we shall show that
the prevailing winds, atmospheric pressure, the distribution
of the ice, combined with what is known of the geological
structure of the Antarctic lands, all tend to support a high

ENDERBY LAND. 223

probability of the existence of an extensive South Polar
Continent, or at least of masses of land connected by ice
formations.

11. ENDERBY LAND AND THE NEIGHBOURING
DISTRICTS.

The last of the three larger groups of land that have
been actually sighted, or were conjectured to exist, are
those hastily seen by Kemp, comprising the extensive
coast of Enderby Land, besides the frequent views of an
ice wall to the west of it, and some indistinct indications
of other land ; all these are least known, notwithstanding
the fact that they are situated within the region visited by
Cook on his first voyage of discovery to the far south.
The easternmost point seen, vzz., Kemp Land, is situated
in latitude 66° 30’ S., almost on the same parallel as the
westernmost point of Wilkes Land, the existence of which
has been clearly demonstrated in longitude 69° W. The
distance intervening between the two districts amounts to
forty-four meridians = 1,150 to 1,250 miles.

The Challenger penetrated into the centre of this
intermediate region, and even beyond it, and it is due to
its investigations that the veil has been partially lifted
mom OVER this vast tract. Land it is true, was not
actually seen, but the soundings that were taken, and
the specimens of rock and other substances brought to
the surface have thrown some light on this region. The
Challenger took soundings at three places in the regions
of drift ice south of latitude 64° S., vzz. :—

At 64° 18’ S. and 94° 47’ E. the soundings reached a
depth of 7,805 feet.

At 64° 37’ S. and 85° 49’ E. the soundings reached a depth
of 10,807 feet.

At 65° 42'S. and 79° 40’ E. the soundings reached a depth
of 10,056 feet.

224, THE ANTARCEIC:

The substances raised from the sea bottom were mostly
blue mud, of which we now know that it is invariably of
continental origin ; also to a preponderating extent rock-
masses, exhibiting distinct traces of glacial action; these
were granite, quartz-diorite, diorite-slate (scale-stone),
amphibolite, mica-slate, granulous-quarzite, sandstone,
small fragments of compact limestone and of decomposed
clay-slate, in a word, only such rocks as are produced
exclusively by continents or their fragments. Eruptive
rocks, or to speak more accurately, eruptive rocks of late
origin, have been nowhere met with in high latitudes, but
occurred in considerable quantities farther north in the
neighbourhood of the Heard Isles, which are volcanic.
Every one will agree that Murray is right in the inference
he draws from these evidences—that there must be land
near 80° E.; for these rock-fragments necessarily are
derived from land, and can have reached their subsequent
resting place only by being transported by ice. How far
off this land may be from the positions reached, whether
120 or 250 miles, or more or less, is, according to Murray,
a matter of secondary importance ; the main thing being
the certainty of its existence, which is proved, not only
by the specimens brought up from the bottom of the sea,
but is also made probable by the great number of quite
new icebergs which the Challenger encountered in the
higher latitudes between Wilkes Land and Enderby Land.

The first undisputed sight of land in the district of
Enderby Land is called Kemp Land—after Kemp, its
discoverer. _ He saw in latitude 66° 25’ S. and 59 E-
a perfectly inaccessible coast—and that is the sum total of
our knowledge of his discovery. The chart of the British
Admiralty, No. 1,240, lays down his whole course, and thus
gives the most exact account of this voyage. According
to it, this probably conjectural coast line is situated in
latitude 66° 35’ S.; it extends from 60° to 58 30’ E.., and
is thus about forty miles long.

‘bez asnd a2n,7) *(4n0]09-19}eM paystqndun ue TOI) 9D] AY Ul 4asuI77YYD dq,

Cetrisd

a ee oe an

ENDERBY LAND. 225

We are somewhat better informed about Enderby
Land itself, although it was seen nowhere from a less
distance than twenty-five to forty miles ; hence it comes
that the map we possess is so little reliable and varies
in many points from Biscoe’s notes. According to this
latter the eastern extremity of the land seen would be
transferred to 61° E., and scarcely farther north than
latitude 66° 25'S; at least Biscoe’s map does not show any
position that is more advanced, and the one in question
is occupied by a considerable elevation. Farther west is
situated, according to Biscoe’s observations, a distinctly
projecting headland called Cape Anne. From here the
land stretches more or less distinctly visible from a great
distance as far as longitude 43° 54’ E., where Biscoe came
near and himself distinctly saw a perpendicular wall of ice
100 to 110 feet high, a most reliable indication of land.
Only a little to the west of it Cook had seen an uniform
and level mass of ice extending along the horizon, which,
according to his imperfect measurement, he estimated to
be 15 to 20 feet high. All the experience so far gained
in the Antarctic regions is against the assumption that it
was pack-ice or field-ice, for such a thickness of it has
nowhere been seen in the frozen seas of the south, and least
of all in the open storm-lashed waters at such comparatively
low latitudes ; it seems safe then to assume that both the ice
seen by Cook and that west of Alexander Land was a
real ice wall, whose distance and height he may possibly
have under-estimated.

This is the extreme point from which the existence of
land may be assumed with any degree of certainty, but it
is conjectured that it extends thence at ever higher lati-
tudes as far as the zero-meridian. Thus Biscoe believed
that he saw land repeatedly about latitude 69° S., and
he was confirmed in this belief by observing numerous
animals, of whom we know from experience that they keep

at no great distance from the land ; this seems to have
15

226 THE ANTARCTIC.

occurred in longitude 31° to 25° E. Similarly Bellings-
hausen came in latitude 60° to 69° 16’ S. and longitude 16°
30’ to 18° 30’ E. upon fields of floating and of fixed ice,
which extended east to west to seemingly endless dis-
tances, and this so-called fixed ice may well be regarded
as an ice barrier. Near that spot, in latitude 69° 25’ S.
and longitude 13° E., Biscoe seems to have sighted
something like land, independent of sea birds, who were
observed to direct their flight to the south-west. In latitude
69° 22’ S. and longitude 2° 15’ W. he came upon “a dense
wall of ice,” of which unfortunately we have no detailed
account, so that it is impossible to determine whether it is
a mass of pack-ice or a genuine ice barrier. About the
regions farther west we are still without information about
land being sighted distinctly or even indistinctly ; but that
it must exist at least in higher latitudes is proved by the
numerous icebergs met by both Weddell and Ross in their
advance southwards between o: W. and Graham’s Land.
In latitude 66° 24’ S. and longitude 32° 33’ W. Weddell
saw a large iceberg, thickly covered with débrzs, and
farther south icebergs were very numerous about the
middle of February, and even in latitude 74° 15’ S. he still
saw four of the bergs ; Ross saw them in great numbers
in latitude 70° to 71° 30’ S. and about longitude 15° W.
This exhausts the enumeration of all the land known
or conjectured to exist. Of its nature nothing is known
beyond the fact that Biscoe describes it as mountainous
and covered with snow. No specimens of rock have been
obtained from either the sea bottom, or from the matter
brought down by icebergs, by which conjectures about
the geology of the country might have been possible, and
not even soundings have been made in its neighbourhood.
Those made by Ross in latitude 68° 34’ S. and longitude
12° 49’ W. are at a great distance from Enderby Land, and
no bottom was reached at a depth of about 24,000 feet.
If no error has occurred in this measurement then it is

ENDERBY LAND. 22i7

the greatest known depth south of latitude 30° S. ; it has
been distrusted and not entered on any sea charts ;
Murray, however, strenuously insists on its reliability.
Future explorations will show whether Biscoe and Bell-
ingshausen have really seen land, and if it be so, whether
it was a continuous coast, as at Enderby Land and Kemp
Land, or a succession of separate islands. Then we shall
also know whether or not an uninterrupted continental
coast extends beyond Enderby Land to the south-west
and is joined in high latitudes to the east coast of
Graham’s Land. There is as little to be said against this
theory as for it, or perhaps even less, as will be shown
in the next chapter, when the directions of the prevailing
winds are discussed.

IVE CEIMATE:

Tuart the Antarctic regions have, till now, remained the
least known on the face of the earth is due solely to their
inhospitable climate, which precludes the possibility of
any human settlements, and compared with which the
most northern Arctic regions known to us may be con-
sidered as delightful habitations. At first sight it is
simply surprising to notice such an enormous difference
in the climates of the two Polar regions ; but on con-
sidering their external conditions, we speedily arrive at
the conclusion that this difference is no more a fortu-
itous accident than any other phenomenon in nature, but
on the contrary is deeply rooted in general circumstances
which are still only partially understood.

It is well known that solar heat is the primary
source of all climatic phenomena, and the mere mathe-
matical aspect of its distribution shows that the southern
hemisphere is placed at a disadvantage when compared
with the northern hemisphere. The fact that at about the
time of our winter solstice the earth is in her perihelion,
where her angular orbital motion is greatest, brings it
about that the sun shines only 179 days in the year
vertically over places in the southern hemisphere, but
186 days over regions in our northern hemisphere. The
southern summer is probably somewhat hotter than the
northern summer, in consequence of the greater nearness
of the sun; but, on the other hand, the southern winter
is longer, and, because of the greater distance of the sun,

colder than the northern winter.
(228)

CLIMATE. 229

Although the amount of solar heat poured out over
the two hemispheres in the course of the year may be
absolutely equal, yet @ przorz the climate of the southern
hemisphere must theoretically be more extreme than that
of the northern hemisphere. It is true that in perman-
ently-inhabited countries of the southern hemisphere, and
in latitudes that have been visited at all seasons of the
year, less fluctuation in temperature has been observed
than in corresponding places of the northern hemisphere ;
but the cause of this deviation from normal conditions
must be looked for in the unequal distribution of land
and water, in the huge preponderance of the oceanic over
continental areas, and in the existence of the gigantic
southern ocean, with its three broad bays penetrating
northward deep into the land. The Antarctic region
is situated precisely like an island in the middle of
this boundless ocean, nowhere approaching any known
continent to within 600 miles ; and it is thus deprived of
the climatic influences of vast continental regions, while,
on the contrary, subject to the unmitigated oceanic climate
of our globe. The character of an oceanic climate is well
known ; it is equable, and by diminishing the fluctations
in temperature it reduces the summer heat and the winter
cold, and produces great precipitation of moisture. This
would lead us to expect that the climate of the Antarctic
masses of land, or of the problematical south polar con-
tinent, must be wholly dominated by the climate of the
great southern ocean, and must share its peculiarities.
This, however, is counteracted by the peculiar positions
of south polar lands. If we imagine all the lands of those
regions, as far as they are known to us, united into a
single mass, then the coasts would, in accordance with
our present knowledge, have an equatorial direction.
But in that case the ocean would immediately be deprived
of a large part of its influence, because for any given
degree of latitude the supply of solar heat is a constant

230 THE ANTARCTIC.

quantity, whilst the radiation of heat into the atmosphere
and the aérial currents and climatic influences caused
thereby depend on the local distribution of land and
water. Accordingly, an interchange of air, such as,
for example, takes place between western Europe and
the Atlantic, effecting so considerable a rise in the mean
annual temperature of north-western Europe, could not
possibly take place there. This is clearly exhibited by
the charts of the distribution of temperatures and of atmos-
pheric pressure. The isothermal lines and the isobars
show but few and slight curves, and instead we observe
a pronounced parallelism between both kinds of climatic
curves, which, although mainly conjectural, are probably
enough in accordance with actual facts. The climate of
Antarctic regions proper can consequently either not be
inferred at all, or only to a slight extent from that of the
surrounding ocean, but it must be based on the thermic
condition of the country itself, on the prevailing winds,
and finally on the general circulation of the atmosphere
over the globe.

The prime and weightiest factor of the south polar
climate is the geographical position of those regions. As
has just been observed, it is purely oceanic, but this
characteristic is not fully distinctive, as it is shared by
every island, and even among the continents, primarily
by Australia, then by South America, and at bottom
by all the continents of the world. But that which
distinguishes the Antarctic regions from all other insular
masses of land, and the effect of which has already
been faintly indicated, is its cercumpolar oceanic position.
This alone prevents the existence of any essential con-
trast in temperature between the several meridians, which
leads to convection-currents of the air, and of the waters
that depend on them; it alone conduces to the almost
symmetrical distribution of atmospheric heat and pressure
which is graphically exhibited by the uniform zones of

CLIMATE. 231

the isothermal and isobaric lines. If then, in consequence
of the situation and conformation of the Antarctic masses
of land, no great thermal difference, due to latitude, is to
be expected, then the annual difference in temperature
must inevitably be all the greater, for, barring a few
slight exceptions, all the land masses of the south polar
regions lie within the Antarctic circle, and are conse-
quently subject every year to a difference in the length
of the day of from o to 24 hours on the periphery, and to
between 179 x 24 hours’ day and 186 x 24 hours’ night
at the Pole itself. But the supply of heat from the sun
depends partly on the inclination of the solar rays, and
partly on the duration of daylight, whence it follows that
the Antarctic regions must have, in comparison with the
ocean to the north of it, an excessive climate independent
of its probable continental character. In the winter season,
which coincides for the central parts with the long polar
night, a supply of heat is wholly excluded, and we are
forced to assume a very low degree of temperature, at
least for the land. In summer the whole region, and
especially the Pole, receives continuously a more abun-
dant supply of heat from the sun, which is all the more
intense as the sun is in perigee; but as, according to
our present knowledge, those regions are covered by a
constant mantle of snow, the summer heat is mainly
consumed in melting snow and cannot contribute greatly
to a rise of temperature, so that even in summer the air
of the ocean must in general be warmer than that of the
land, and the sea-breezes can exercise no great influence
on the climate of the land.

Our knowledge finally of the relative position of the
south polar regions with respect to the universal circu-
lation of the air on the globe and the influence this has
on its climate, is as yet purely hypothetical. Hann!

1 An eminent Austrian astronomer and geographer.—The translator.

232 THE ANTARCTIC.

describes it in the latest edition of his Allgemeine
Erdkunde somewhat as follows: “ The north-west re-
turn trade-wind of the southern hemisphere flows in the
upper strata of the air from the Equator to the Pole, and
according to theory it ought to blow due west to east
between the latitudes of 60° and 70° S._ To replace the
air sucked away from the Equator, air currents ought
to be observed on the surface of the earth ; these starting
from high southern latitudes as west-south-west winds,
should in consequence of the earth’s rotation gradually
assume a south-west and a south direction till at last they
became the south-east trade-wind. But instead of this
we find on the vast oceanic surfaces of the southern
hemisphere, between latitudes 4o° and 60’ S., very violent
and constant west winds, the “ Roaring Forties” of
English mariners. These owe their existence to the all
but total absence of extensive tracts of land, which would
create over large expanses of surface, in the southern
summer, local minima, and in the southern winter local
maxima of atmospheric pressure, and would thereby
essentially alter the distribution of the winds. We find,
on the contrary, in the southern summer, and still more
in the southern winter, a strongly-marked zone of high
atmospheric pressure, extending from 40 to 20° S., or
even to the Equator; the winds which radiate from the
latter towards the south assume an easterly direction in
consequence of the rotation of the earth, and circle round
a zone of low atmospheric pressure which lies round the
South Pole from the fortieth parallel, its maximum of
depression coinciding possibly with the Antarctic circle.
As the winds must in general tend towards this minimum
of depression and towards its cyclones which pursue a
west to east direction, any influence exercised by the
constant west wind on the south polar lands must be
largely reduced, these regions being situated mostly to
the south of this belt of minimum of depression. If no

CLIMATE. 233

extensive south polar lands existed, the west winds would
probably whirl round the South Pole and actually reach
it, and the south polar zone would then form a large
continuous region of low barometric pressure.”

Having stated this general theory, we will now turn
to the actual facts, or rather to the few isolated and
scattered observations, which have been made on the
climate and meteorology of the south polar regions. On
one point it is indispensably necessary to be perfectly
clear, vzz.. that it is premature to give a truly satis-
factory description of the climate of the south polar
regions. Modern science requires as basis of such a
description a series of careful observations of all the
meteorological phenomena extending over a period of
thirty-five years, as these alone supply mean values,
which are fully reliable. Great, enormously great, is the
difference between this ideal and our actual knowledge
of the south polar regions. We possess isolated notices
scattered over a period of more than a hundred years,
or else series of observations of short duration, almost
each of which refers to a different locality, but not a
single series made on the same spot. The observations
at our disposal have been made during circumnavigations
of the Pole, or else on rapid advances south, none of
which comprised a period of more than a few months.
And finally, all have been made during the southern
summer, whilst we know absolutely nothing of the long
polar winter of the far south, there being no record, at
least none of any scientific value, of a winter having
been passed there. It follows that our description of
the south polar regions can be no more than a circum-
spect groping in the dark, and a scheduling of the few
numerical observations from which further inferences
may cautiously be drawn.

The state of the temperature, being the most funda-
mental element constituting climate, claims our first

234 THE ANFARCTIC.

attention ; but unfortunately our knowledge of it is more
incomplete than even that of wind and atmospheric
pressure. Nevertheless what we know establishes the
surprisingly low summer temperatures, which are beyond
anything recorded of the Arctic regions. Floeberg Beach,
for example, situated in latitude 82° 27’ N. on the edge of
a group of islands, and possibly near an extensive polar
sea, shows in the warmest month a mean temperature
of 38°3° F. The mean summer temperature of the south
polar regions is exhibited by the following tables, which
are based on the observations so far made; and it must
be borne in mind that the temperature of the sea is
considerably higher than that of the neighbouring ice-
clad lands.’

1. Region of Victoria Land (Ross) :—

Latitude. fa Sea.
60° to 65° S. 30°38° F. 29°48° F,
65, to’zo S. 29°66 F. 23°76 FF.
70: to 74> S. 28'22° F. 28'04° F.
74 to7s S. 24°98° F. ZQ°h2° E

2. Region between longitude 77° and g9° E. (Chal
lenger) :

60° to 66°30: S. 20102 sh). 32°54. E:

3. Region between longitude 6° and 58° W. (Ross) :—
60° to 65° S. 30°92” F. 1-20 JH:
G5 tOfiress: 29°48° F. 30°74. BF.

The extremes of temperature observed by Ross in
the region of Victoria Land were :—
Maxima: On 31st December, 1841, in latitude 66° 29’ S.,.
longitude 156°29' E., 43°52° F.
On 11th January, 1841, in latitude 71° 15’ S.,.
longitude 171°15’ E., 40°46° F.
Minima: On 3rd March, 1841, in latitude 67° 45’ S.,
longitude 167°1' E., 11°66° F.
On 5th February, 1841, in latitude 77° 11’ S.,,
longitude 15752’ W., 12°92) F.

1 From Fricker’s Antarctic Drift-ice, p. 89 and seg.

CLIMATE. 235

Wilkes found that the mean temperature for January
and February on the coast of Wilkes Land was 30°2°
F., and the extremes were 34°52. F. and 23° F. East
of Graham’s Land, Ross observed south of latitude 64°

90)

NO

Region within

which the isothermal

ied Isothemns of 10° & RB . ae ye

a oe IEE . line of 50° ospillates in
oe a y the course of the year.

Es ks oe ae tl = Region within which the

Westy 0 3
aieen ies i » 6° in February. "0 "Von 180 Greer: 170 isotherma! line of 41° oscillates in the
course of the year.

Map of the distribution of temperature (after Neumayer—by Haardt).

S. on the 6th of February, 1843, in latitude 64° 12’ S.
and longitude 56° 49’ W., a maximum of 44°96" F., but
on the 15th of January, 1843, in latitude 64° 32’ S.
and longitude 56° 53’ W., a minimum temperature of
3°54 F., that is to say, at a time of year which
corresponds to the month of July, at the height of our

90

100

236 THE ANTARCTIC.

summer. These numbers are confirmed, at least for the
latter region, by the observations made by Bruce on
board of the Batena between latitudes 61° and 64° qo’
S. On the 15th of January, 1893, he noted a maximum
of 37°22° F. in about latitude 64° S., and on the 17th of
February, 1893, in about latitude 62° S., a minimum of
20°84 F. The mean temperature of the second half
of December and of the month of January was 31'1 F.,
and of the first half of. February it was 30°56° F., both
between the above-named latitudes, which correspond to
southern Greenland, where on the narrow strip of coast
between the sea and the inland ice, bushes of willows
and alders, more than six feet high, are met with along
the river banks, and where at Godthaab the mean July
temperature is 43°52 F.

The supposition that these unexpectedly low summer
temperatures would be accompanied by relatively mild
winters may possibly be disproved by future observations,
or at best prove to hold good only for the South Shetland
and South Orkney Islands, which are at a considerable
distance north of the Antarctic circle, and naturally also
for all those islands whose latitude is even lower than
60° S. The minimum thermometer left behind by Foster
on Deception Island, and discovered in 1842 by Smiley,
indicated a minimum temperature of—4° F. Considering
the protected position, and the volcanic nature of the
insular bay, this record may not supply a standard,
nevertheless it is interesting. On the other hand the
observations made at the German station in South
Georgia in Moltke Haven show a mean annual tempera-
ture of 37°52° F.; February was the warmest month,
and showed a mean temperature of 41°54 F.; the coldest
month was June, with a mean temperature of 26°78° F.
On the hottest day, the r1th of February, the thermometer
stood at 64°04" F., on the coldest day, the 23rd of July, it
stood at 19'86° F

CLIMATE. 231

If at the comparatively low latitude of 54° S., in a
climate that is purely oceanic, albeit greatly modified by
the ice covering of the island, such low winter tempera-
tures are recorded, it is obvious that much lower readings
of the thermometer must prevail in the winters of the
Antarctic regions proper, z.¢., south of the Antarctic circle.
In the winter half-year, when no heat comes in at all,
radiation from this country, wholly covered as it is with
ice and snow, must produce an intense cold of the air
resting over the country, and in connection therewith a
barometric maximum at least as high as that of eastern
Siberia. The winds originating there must contribute
their share to the formation both of the more or less
complete ice coating covering the bays that penetrate
deeply into the land, and of the narrow belt of sea ice
along the northern coast. Although the very powerful
breakers of the southern ocean may, in numerous places,
reduce the ice covering to fragments, yet even such a
partially-closed ice covering will prevent the sea from
effectually warming the air resting over the land. Thus
it happens that the ice mantle has the same climatic
effect as land has, and contributes to the increase in space
of the thermometric minimum and barometric maximum.

The causes of the extraordinary low summer tempera-
tures even of the sea are naturally, like all the climatic
phenomena of the south polar regions, still hidden from
us; judging by the scanty observations so far made,
three causes might be suggested. Firstly, the complete
glaciation of Antarctic lands, which must reduce by air
currents the temperature of the surface of the sea and of
the atmosphere resting over it; secondly, the enormous
ice masses formed in the sea itself, in the shape of sheets,
blocks, or most numerous and gigantic icebergs ; thirdly,
the heavy clouds hovering over the Antarctic waters
which often, if not always, absorb the heat of the sun just
in summer. During all his three voyages Ross has within

238 THE ANTARCTIC.

60° S. noted only one single day when seven-eighths of the
sky was cloudless ; at other times dense masses of clouds
commonly filled the upper strata of the air, whilst impene-
trable mist and fog lay over the sea, and fully shrouded
the ice masses to the great danger of navigation.
Reasoning from analogy of the Arctic regions, one is led
to assume that the cloud covering is largely reduced in
the winter months, so that the heavy clouds of summer
obstruct the admission of the sun’s rays, and the clearer
sky in winter favours excessive radiation, both circum-
stances thus combining to reduce the temperature.
The distribution of Atmospheric Pressure presents
phenomena as extreme as that of temperature. As-
suming the existence of a water surface right to the
Pole, atmospheric pressure ought, according to Hann’s
theory, to diminish as the latitude increases. As a matter
of fact the Antarctic regions seem to exhibit permanent
depressions of the barometer, such as occur elsewhere
only in the centre of progressive cyclones. On the basis
of the observations made by Ross, Hann has calculated
the mean barometric values of the southern summer in
Ross Sea for the years 1840-41 and 1841-42 as follows :—
Latitude S. 60°-67° 65°-71— 70°-75, 75-7 G8
Pressure in Inches 29°122 29°031 28°898 28'968.
According to the observations of Wilkes (who reduced
his values to latitude 45°"), the mean values for January
and February, 1840, for the coast of Wilkes Land (z.e.,
for about the Antarctic circle) amount to 28°846 inches,
consequently to considerably less than even the values
recorded by Ross. This is probably due to the fact
that along the northern coast of Wilkes Land a main
track of cyclones seems to lie. Observations made east
of Graham’s Land show a somewhat higher pressure.

1We are not informed if Wilkes’ barometric measures have been
corrected according to temperature.

CLIMATE. 236

A mean atmospheric pressure of 29°264 inches (reduced
to 32° F. and 45° latitude) for the latitudes between 61°
and 64° 30’ S., and for the time intervening between the
middle of December, 1892, and the middle of February,
1893, may be deduced from the values recorded by Bruce.

A490

eet Isobars actually
| observed.

Isobars basedon ;
theory. ese es are

+~ # Direction of wind
actually observed.
“~ = Direction of wind
180 Greenw. based on theory.
Map of the distribution of atmospheric pressure (in inches) and of the winds (after

Murray—v. Haardt).

7 ostl-

The observations of Ross for the same latitudes, but
restricted to the space between 57° 30’ S. and 12° W.,
indicate the similarly corrected value of 29°193 inches, but
for latitudes 65° to 71 S., and between 17° and 7 W.,
only 28'949 inches.

24.0 THE ANTARCTIC,

The observations of Ross show that in the highest
latitudes of Ross Sea the atmospheric pressure increases
somewhat towards the south, and, to judge by the
direction of the Wzzds, the same, no doubt, holds for the
masses of Antarctic lands, although we know as little
of their barometric as we know of their thermometric
phenomena. Nearly all the reports of Antarctic dis-
coverers agree that in the higher latitudes, z.e., in those
regions where an advance farther south was no longer
possible, the prevailing winds came from the southern
or south-eastern quarter of the sky. The districts of the
Dirk Gerritz Archipelago and of the northern group of
islands seem to be an exception to this rule, as they are
under the influence of the permanent west winds owing
to the small areas of the land masses; on the other hand
the not infrequent south-west winds, which Ross observed
on the east coast of Victoria Land, are easily explained
by the western position of the country. We are compelled
then to assume that over the Antarctic land itself
barometric high pressure constantly prevails, corre-
sponding to the unbroken low temperature, and from this
region radiate those southern winds, which owing to the
axial motion of the earth are diverted to the left and
become south-east winds.

How to harmonise the circumpolar anticyclone de-
duced from these observations with the cyclone demanded
by theory, is a question still involved in obscurity, and
the solution of this problem must be left to future
discoverers, who may possibly pass the winter in those
inhospitable regions. The cause of the high pressure
is probably due to the powerful radiation of the land
and to the consequent chilling of the atmosphere, at least
at low elevations. To observe the direction of the winds
in the upper strata of the atmosphere, it may prove
advisable to send up trial balloons, and to study the
cirrhus clouds, and possibly also the clouds of ashes from

CLIMATE. 241

volcanoes. It is easy to imagine circumstances when
reliable conclusions may be drawn from these indications
concerning the direction of the winds in the several
superimposed strata of air. As the area of the centre
of cold over the ice-clad sea may be expected to be
enlarged during the winter, it may follow that the
anticyclone may also extend radially over the surface
of the sea. This conjecture receives support from the
fact that in Drake Strait frequent east and south-east
winds have been observed in the southern winter, which
are almost entirely absent in the southern summer. And
finally it is just this general distribution of south and
south-east winds which lends support to the assumption
that the south polar regions consist principally of masses
of land, as these alone are able to give birth to constant
anticyclones.

Finally the last of the climatic elements, PRECIPITATION,
seems to present great peculiarities, which it would be
specially interesting to observe in the summer months.
Arguing from analogy with the Arctic regions we infer
that in the Antarctic when the whole ice-clad surface,
land as well as water, consists of a uniform heat-radiating
area, a dryness of the atmosphere must prevail such as
accompanies every anticyclone, and this must be extreme
here, in consequence of the very low state of the
thermometer. This dryness, however, finds expression
in the aésolute moisture of the air; whilst, on the con-
trary, the velative moisture would have to be very high.
Over the inland ice of Greenland, Nansen found a
relative moisture averaging 94 per cent., but an absolute
moisture of only 2 mm. (= ‘008 inch) of vapour-tension,
and a similar condition may assuredly be assumed to
exist in the Antarctic regions. The very scanty absolute
moisture is due to the exceedingly low temperature, the
large relative moisture to the surface of the ground

being covered with snow, which even at low temperature
16

242 THE ANTARCTIC.

dries up and forms water-vapour. Thus the cold
ground alternately deprives the air of its moisture by
condensation, and returns it again by evaporation. The
rents and gaps in the ice covering of the sea, forming
large open spaces, constitute in winter an additional
source of moisture, whilst from the open sea beyond,
the supply of moisture cannot be of any consequence—
at least not that supplied by winds which were blowing
polewards at no great height above the ground, as in
consequence of the distribution of barometric pressure
these winds are of rare occurrence. This does not,
however, in our opinion, exclude the possibility of
moisture being supplied by the upper air currents, which
feed the polar anticyclones. Assuming the temperature
of the ascending air in the zone of depression round the
Pole to be 32° F., and the heights of ascent to be about
6,000 feet, there would result from it a reduction of the
temperature of the air of some 35 to 36 F., thathicura
say, that by far the greater part of the precipitation must
be in a solid form. But now it must be assumed that
the precipitation of moisture out of the air must, at
least in the higher regions, be in the shape, not of
large flakes of snow, but of very minute ice-needles,
which are carried mechanically towards the interior of
the country by those stormy winds which at a great
height flow off to the anticyclone. As the air gradually
descends and thus grows warmer, a portion of the con-
densed moisture brought in may evaporate, only to be
immediately again condensed by the colder strata of air
resting over the surface of the land, since it is most
probable that over the Antarctic land, in winter at least,
there exists on the whole the well-known reversed state
of the temperature of the atmosphere, which on ascending
from the ground first shows an increase to be turned into
a decrease at great heights. The purely hypothetically-

2

assumed height of the in-streaming winds is probably

CLIMATE. 24.3

not required to produce these phenomena, at least not
with land of low elevation, whilst with Victoria Land, for
example, it would have to be still more considerable.

The state of things must be different in the southern
summer, if not in principle, at least in effect, as the large
vapour-supplying water surfaces of the open basins of
Ross Sea and Weddell Sea, and possibly also other still
unknown bays or gulfs, make their influence felt in the
Antarctic regions. Over these regions the air, probably
still cold, but in comparison with winter much warmer,
may be abundantly charged with water-vapour, which is
carried partly perhaps to the coasts by sea-breezes, but
mainly to the interior in the manner above indicated. In
summer the vedatzve moisture in the air over the Antarctic
waters is very great; on 30 per cent. to 4o per cent. of
the days that Ross passed within 60° S. it amounted to
100 per cent., in other words, the air was saturated with
moisture ; the number of days when the ve/a/zve moisture
Was 100 per cent. between 74° and 78° S. was small,
-amounting only to 25°8 per cent. of the total number of
days. On the remaining days it hovered near the point
of saturation, whilst low numbers were observed only
twice, vzz.: 62°5 per cent. in the neighbourhood of Mount
Erebus, accompanied by a rising temperature and a wind
coming from the land, consequently a kind of Fohn, and
52°6 per cent. at the edge of the pack-ice, accompanied
by an east wind proceeding from it.

The precipitation in the southern summer corresponds
with the state of ve/atzve moisture prevailing over the sea.
As has already been observed, water-vapour rises inces-
santly from the sea, and if this moisture penetrates cold
air, it generates the fogs which are so frequent a pheno-
menon of the Antarctic waters ; and if, in addition, land
winds bring this air in contact with the much colder air
of their place of origin the fog is succeeded or accompanied
by snow. Wilkes expressly says, that the winds from

244 FHE, ANTARCTIC.

the southern quadrant occasionally bring clear weather
interrupted by snowstorms, whilst the northern winds
generate dense fogs, and Bruce says the same thing.

Most commonly precipitation takes the form of snow,
rain is comparatively rare, and dew and hoar frost make
considerable contributions. Ross noticed on 31 per cent.
of the days some rainfalls in form of passing showers at
a latitude south of 70 S.; persistent rain on the 11th
of February, 1842, at 70 6’ S. and 178° 18’ W., and the.
last rain altogether on the 29th of January, 1841, in 77°
47'S. and 176° 43’ E. Wilkes and Dumont d’Urville
also experienced heavy rainfalls, but at the considerably
lower latitudes of Wilkes Land and Louis-Philippe Land.
Hail, on the other hand, occurs but rarely ; Wilkes alone
reports two instances—he mentions also sleet, and draws
special attention to the important part played by the
formation of dew. On one occasion he observed that
during a fog a crust of ice nearly a quarter of an inch in
thickness had been formed within a few hours.

The snowfall is of far more importance in Antarctic
regions than all the other forms of precipitation, since
it is even in the open sea by no means restricted to the
winter season. Ross observed in the southern summer
of 1840-41, south of latitude 70° S., that it snowed on
57°6 per cent. of the days of observation ; in the summer
following on 62 per cent. of the days, and finally in the
summer of 1842-43, when he was east of Graham’s Land,
on 68°8 per cent. of the days. The form of the snow-
crystals depends, of course, on the temperature, yet
full-shaped large flakes of the familiar crystals apparently
occur but rarely; most commonly the snow assumes the
shape of small fine ice-needles. These, no doubt, pre-
ponderate on land, as seems proved by the occurrence
of snow-drifts at Mount Haddington and Wilkes Land,
as well as the formation of snow-mounds on Adélie Land,

and a glance at the low temperature fully explains this.

CLIMATE. 245

About the amount of precipitation it is, of course, as yet
impossible to make any positive statement; in summer
it is probably very considerable, both at sea and on the
coasts; in the interior of the land, and in winter, it is
likely to be slight, and, moreover, to gradually diminish
as the Pole is approached.

In conclusion, and as an appendix to the description
of the ,climate, short mention may be made of a
phenomenon, which is not intelligibly connected with
climate, but rather proceeds from the magnetism of the
globe, namely the PoLtar Licut, which corresponds to
the Northern Light, and is in contradistinction called
the Southern Light, or the AuRora AustRALis. In ap-
pearance it does not seem to differ from the Aurora
Boreatts, although the southern display exhibits more
rays than bands of light. Like the northern lights so
also do those of the south shine forth most frequently
and most brilliantly in a zone whose centre does not
coincide with the astronomical pole of the globe, but
appears to be displaced in the direction of the magnetic
pole of the southern hemisphere, which must be looked
for in the south-western districts of Victoria Land. This
explains the almost total absence of observation of the
Aurora Australis from the South Atlantic Ocean; for
example: from the polar stations in South Georgia, and
from Cape Horn, not a single instance of a_ polar
light is recorded in the year of observation of 1882-83,
whilst they were not uncommonly noticed by ships on
the way to New Zealand and south-east Australia, and
of course also in both these countries themselves.

On the whole much less is known of the southern
light than of the northern, its proper domain falling into
regions scarcely ever visited by man.

Ve SDR Cr

Tue extremely low temperature of the summer, and
still more that of winter, and the consequent precipitation
of water in solid form, z.e., of snow, produce the mighty
ice covering of land and sea which impress on both the
polar regions their characteristic feature, and without
which we cannot so much as imagine the high latitudes
of our globe. There exists, however, as great a difference
in both the sea ice and the glacial or land ice of the
northern and southern polar regions as between their two
climates, especially their summer temperatures. In the
lands of high northern latitudes there are extensive tracts,
where, in the warm season, after the snow has melted,
not only the bare rocks appear, but there are surfaces
covered with a vegetation that under the circumstances
might even be called luxuriant. Spitzbergen, situated
between 78° and 80 N., supports large herds of reindeer,
lemming rats and Alpine hares ; the same holds good both
of East and West Greenland—the home of an abundant
fauna—and of the true polar regions of Northern Asia and
America. The Antarctic regions, on the other hand, ex-
hibit nothing of the kind. Excepting on the island of South
Georgia, situated in latitude 54° to 55° S., ze, at a polar
distance corresponding to that of Northern England, and
in the South Shetland Isles, we find that only in summer
the snow disappears in places, but even there not very
extensively, whilst all the rest of these southern lands
lie even at midsummer wholly buried under snow and

ice. In high northern latitudes gigantic icebergs drift
(246)

THE ICE. 247

annually into the North Atlantic, and collect off the
coast of Newfoundland. They all originate in the island-
studded Arctic Ocean, where the intense frosts of winter
form huge ice masses over wide, albeit varying, extent ;
part of which are in summer melted on the spot, part
drift farther south to meet the same fate, whilst a not
inconsiderable quantity retains its solid form, as happens,
for example, over the vast regions north of Behring Strait.
In the Antarctic regions, on the other hand, we have
shown in our history of discovery that after bursting
through a zone of pack-ice, which was not immoderately
thick, a sea was reached which was but slightly beset
with ice, no matter whether it was water washing the
coast, or open, extensive sea surfaces like the Ross Sea
and Weddell Sea. From this it follows that in the Arctic
regions the sea ice largely preponderates over the land ice,
which comes almost exclusively from Greenland, whilst in
the Antarctic regions the reverse takes place, that is to
say, that the land ice preponderates over the sea ice.
This is one more clear indication of the difference in
the distribution of land and water in the two hemispheres.
This the present author has elsewhere formulated thus:
‘The northern hemisphere possesses a closed-in polar
ocean and a polar edge of the land; the southern
hemisphere a closed-in polar continent (or polar archi-
pelago) and a polar edge of the oceans”. The effects
of this contrast are obvious. The islands sporadically
scattered within the north polar basin, and also the
northern edges of the continents, are subject to the
influence of a continental dry climate; the amount of
snow precipitated upon them is mostly too small to
produce a glaciation of the land, and consequently the
summer warmth is sufficient to liquefy the snow in the
lower regions, and to cause the drift-ice of the glaciers
(the icebergs) to recede. Conversely, in the Antarctic
regions, exceedingly low temperatures prevail even in

248 THE ANTARCTIC.

summer, so low that they hardly anywhere suffice to
melt the snow, whilst in the boundless open ocean the
formation of an uninterrupted sheet of ice is prevented
by its perpetual violent agitation ; and this is so all the
more, because the occasional nuclei for ice formations
in the shape of scattered larger island groups in those
distant southern seas are absent; hence again the pre-
ponderance of icebergs, and the relative insignificance
of sea ice.

Land ice or glacier ice is admittedly in its origin
snow in a changed form. In our temperate zones, in the
Alps for example, the dry powdery snow, falling at a
high elevation, is swept by the wind into lower valleys,
where it collects in wide hollows—the birthplaces of
glaciers. Here the snow masses accumulate and reach
down to a certain height, called the Snow Line, below
which the temperature of the air is sufficient to liquefy
the snow.!. The thaw of the summer day, succeeded by
the frosts of night, causes the ice to assume a granulated
shape, and gives it the peculiar character indicated by
the terms “ Firn-snow” and “ Firn-ice”.’ Finally, under
the pressure of the snow masses heaped up in the course
of years, glacial ice is formed, which flows down at
varying rates.

These phenomena do not present themselves in the
south polar districts, or, to speak more correctly, they

1 This definition of the Snow Line is sufficient for the purpose in
hand; for a fuller and more accurate definition, see Tyndall on Zhe
Forms of Water.—THE TRANSLATOR.

2The cognate word of “fern” is ‘‘far”. Hence “ Firnewein”
means ‘‘ far wine,” old wine, wine of a distant or old vintage ; similarly
‘‘ Firnschnee,”’ and ‘ Firneis” mean snow and ice distant both in space
(being found at a high elevation), and in time (being the accumulated
snow and ice of many winters). We have no corresponding term in
English; possibly the words of our text may prove acceptable.—THE
TRANSLATOR.

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THE ICE. 249

occur only partially and in altered shape. To begin
with, true liquefaction to any considerable extent is all
but entirely absent in the Antarctic regions. In South
Georgia certainly the Snow Line is somewhat high; on
the summits of the north coast, which attain a height
of 2,500 feet, the snow wholly disappears, and on the
Ress Glacier the limit of the “‘ Firn,” jbut’ not of “the
Snow Line, is at an elevation of 1,150 feet. But only
a few degrees farther south, wzz., on the northern
extremity of the South Shetland Isles, we find a con-
siderable depression of the Snow Line, although the
observations needful to determine its position with full
accuracy are still wanting; Larsen found on Livingston
Island that in the latter half of the month of December
the Snow Line was at 100 feet above the level of the
sea; no doubt in February it would be somewhat. higher.
There are also bare places on lofty mountains, and on
steep descents farther south, but this is due to orographic,
not to climatic causes. As for the Snow Line south of
Bransfield Strait, or of Bismarck Strait, and in Enderby
Land, Wilkes Land and Victoria Land, it is impossible
to say with absolute certainty that it is at the level of
the sea, since Cape Adare shows that even flat land or
slopes but slightly inclined may wholly lose their snow
covering. Where the coast is covered on all sides with
inland ice descending from great heights, there may still
be some spots protected against that ice, where the
summer sun may under circumstances succeed in removing
the coat of snow up toa certain height. Such phenomena
are, however, exceptional, and cannot affect the total im-
press of the Antarctic regions. It may be accepted as
a general statement, that with the exception of South
Georgia, the South Sandwich Isles, the South Orkney
Isles, and the South Shetland Isles, the Snow Line in
the Antarctic regions seems to coincide with the level
of the sea, and that in consequence outside these islands

250 THE ANTARCTIC.

water in a liquid state is entirely absent. In South
Georgia water-brooks are common in summer, and near
the German station a permanent spring even has been
discovered. Similarly there occur in summer on the
South Shetland Isles, which alone are somewhat better
known to us, brooks formed by the melting of snow and
Ice.

The non-melting of the snow is of necessity accom-
panied by a change in its transformation. If it does
melt near the coast, it is sure to do so somewhat more
vigorously at some elevation, leading on the islands, just
spoken of, to the formation of the firn-snow with which
we are familiar, albeit that the process will be more
sluggish owing to the reduced summer temperature and
to the much shorter periods. But on the larger tracts of
land farther south these circumstances are completely
altered. There the dry powdery snow is, even in the
height of summer and at no great elevation, driven about
by the wind and piled up in huge snow-drifts, and the
melting of the snow can be of no great moment. It is.
certainly very doubtful if active melting of the snow,
such as leads to the formation of brooks, and as we
witness on the Greenland coast, can take place; the
hollowed out forms of the inland ice observed by Dumont
dVUrville on Adélie Land may possibly be mere clefts
in the ice; nevertheless the big icicles of the great wall
of ice prove that even in high southern latitudes vigorous
melting does take place. Until minute observations,
similar to those made in the north by Peary, Von
Drygalski, and others, have been made on the spot, we
can rely in our speculations on the formation of Antarctic
land ice solely on what has been actually seen, vzz., the
icebergs, which are not inland ice. It is no longer
subject to doubt, that their origin is to be traced to the
ice covering of Antarctic lands terminating in the abrupt
perpendicular walls along the coast, spoken of in the

THE ACE: Qo

previous chapter; these icebergs then, frequently and
accurately observed, may be accepted at least pro-
visionally, as a substitute for the investigations to be
made on land, concerning the transformation of snow
into glacier ice.

All Antarctic travellers have been struck by the
peculiar stratification of the icebergs, which with newly-
formed bergs runs in parallel horizontal lines with the
upper surface. These strata, consisting of snow-white
and deep cobalt-blue ice, alternate from top to bottom,
but they are not of uniform thickness ; at a great eleva-

Iceberg seen on 23rd February, 1874 (from the Challenger’s Reports).

tion above the sea-level, near the surface of the berg,
the still undulating white strata are some four feet thick,
the blue strata being comparatively very thin; but, as
we descend lower down, the white strata diminish and the
blue increase in thickness, till, with a berg about eighty feet
high at a distance of sixty to seventy feet from the surface,
the white strata measure only one foot or so in thickness,
and at last disappear altogether, so that the mass below the
surface of the water consists almost entirely of ice that
is perfectly blue and transparent. An original experiment
made by the Challenger supplies satisfactory information

252 THE ANTARCTIC.

about the texture of these two kinds of ice. Shots were
fired at a berg from a 12-pr. gun, first at the blue ice
near the surface of the sea, with the effect that large
masses were splintered off and hurled into the water,
thus proving that the blue ice was hard and brittle. The
second shot entered a broad white stratum near the upper
surface of the berg without producing any effect whatever,
whence it is inferred that these strata consist of soft, un-
resisting material, in fact, of snow or firn, that had under-
gone little alteration. Now, the question arises: How
does the snow from the deep hollows change into strata
of blue, hard ice, which at first are thin and gradually
increase in thickness? ‘The best solution of this problem
seems to be supplied by Nansen’s observations on the
inland ice of central Greenland. Here the climatic con-
ditions of the south polar regions are repeated, apparently
aided by the considerable elevation above the sea-level.
The snow falls in the shape of a very fine crystallised
powder all the year round, but mostly so in summer.
Although the conditions are more favourable, still the
sun is at that elevation no longer able to do more than
slightly melt the snow and moisten its surface ; this
freezes again at night, so that no part of it filters through
and converts the snow into coarsely-granulated firn-ice.
Nansen, too, found at the end of August, the first and some-
what thicker, hard crust beneath the thin surface crusts
formed in the same summer, at a depth of three to four
feet, and sometimes at a less depth. We are led then to
assume for the Antarctic regions also that in the height
of summer the sun is able to melt the surface of the snow
often marked by light undulations produced by the wind.
If, then, such a stratum of one year’s melting is com-
pressed by the superincumbent strata of many years, the
volume of the loose snow between the two hard crusts must
be reduced by the contraction of the air-containing pores.
I conjecture, however, that the layer of snow placed over

Forms of Icebergs (after the Challenger Reports). [Face page 252.

I-3. Seen on 14th February, 1874.
4. Seen on 15th February, 1874.

THE ICE. 25a

a thin ice stratum (in Greenland it is ‘5 to *7 inches thick)
must be crushed upon it, and thus be brought into close
contact with the finely-granulated crystals of this firn-
snow or ice, be absorbed by it, and thus added to increase
its volume. The same process must be repeated on the
lower surface of the stratum of ice, as this also is pressed
upon the deeper lying snow beneath it. Thus, these
sheets of ice grow in thickness by increasing their volume,
but the layers of snow diminish by reduction of their mass
and volume, and gradually change into hard, air-enclosing
ice ; how this air is expelled is still unknown, but the
final result of the whole process of transformation is the
brilliant pure blue ice of the lowest strata of the whole
mass.

In some cases the formation of this pure blue ice will
not be completed, not indeed in consequence of some
change in the process of transformation, but because of
the entry of foreign substances. Mention has been made
in former places of débrvzs-bearing icebergs, and it was
pointed out that sometimes the imbedded masses are
also distinctly stratified. In some regions, especially in
the more remote neighbourhood of periodically active
volcanoes, the ashes are strewn over the snow at every
period of eruption, and these are then at the periods of
rest covered by snow masses more or less thick. Upon
a transverse section such as these icebergs exhibit, these
strata are seen as fine brown or blackish stripes. Such
kind of bergs, whose upper surface also is occasionally
coloured brown by solid substances, have been seen by
Bruce and by the members of the Challenger expedition.
Future investigations may possibly show that the green
colour of icebergs occasionally noticed is due to inorganic
substances distributed through the whole mass of the
berg. In many cases the rubble imbedded in the ice
is not stratified, being derived from moraines, which have
been uninterruptedly received. Such bergs Wilkes has

254 THE. ANTARCTIC.

seen most frequently. Drygalski has collected very
instructive instances for such kind of formations in
Greenland. We must forbear describing these highly
interesting phenomena from want of space, but we may
hold fast to the theory that the alternate white and blue
sheets of Antarctic ice are due to real stratification,
different from the structure of blue foliations of the
Alpine glaciers which are. mostly traceable to the
movements of the glaciers.

With respect to the distribution of the land ice, and
its descent to the coast, a marked difference is noticeable
between the Arctic and Antarctic regions. As far as it
is known, the Greenland ice nowhere reaches the coast
in an unbroken mass; only in the valleys of the fjords,
which cut deeply into its edge, the ice, rent by mighty
clefts, falls sheer into the sea. Numerous rocky summits,
the so-called Nunatak, raise their bare heads within the
whole circuit of this terminal zone, and not till a long way
inland do we find that the ice has a compact surface free
from clefts. In the Antarctic regions, on the contrary,
we do not meet, as has so often been asserted, an ice
cap covering the whole land and hiding all differences
of level, but an ice mantle which, no doubt, fully envelops
the country, but adapts itself to the large configurations
of the ground without obliterating them. This is clearly
obvious from all the descriptions, both verbal and pictorial.
The information we possess at present does not enable
us to account for this, but the nature of the ice in the
interior will be one of the problems that future investigators
will have to study. It may perhaps be ascribed to
the almost universally low summer temperatures in the
far south and along the coast, and to the same cause
may be due the apparently slow motion of the inland ice
in the Antarctic lands, which may be inferred from the
regular horizontal stratification exhibited by the icebergs.

As might have been expected, nothing has as yet

Forms of Icebergs (after the Challenger Reports). [Face page 254.

1. Seen on 15th February, 1874.
2-4. Seen on 16th February, 1874.
5. Seen on 19th February, 1874,

THE ICE. Bao

been discovered concerning the mode of movement of
the Antarctic inland ice. It is sure to be sluggish and
uniform over extensive tracts, as otherwise the inland ice
would hardly terminate along the sea in an uninterrupted
wall of such extraordinary length—a phenomenon seen in
Greenland, only in the rivers of ice that descend into the
fjords. This is just the specially characteristic feature of
the Antarctic regions that even on small, level isles, such
as Dundee Island, the ice, which cannot be very thick,
descends to the sea and terminates in a perpendicular
wall. In this particular case the thickness of the ice is
only 30 feet to 4o feet ; at Adelaide Isle it was even less ;
and quite as low, or only a mere trifle higher, at Snow .
Land, east of Mount Haddington. On the other hand,
the wall of ice at Joinville Island, and in the neigh-
bourhood of Enderby Land, attains a height of about
100 feet, and in the region of Wilkes Land and Victoria
Land, heights of 100 feet to 200 feet are of common
occurrence. In these very regions we find the most
extensive walls of ice, vzz., those off the Clarie coast,
and one of still greater length east of Mount Terror.
Both of these formations used to perplex geographers
very greatly ; they were regarded as very old formations
of sea ice, because with the wall off the Clarie coast the
fact was overlooked that Wilkes had seen land behind
it, and, with that to the east of Mount Terror, that its
gradual transition into a wall of ice at the foot of the
great volcanoes made it probable that it was a natural
formation of land ice. Wherever up to now land has
been distinctly seen behind the large walls of ice, it was
observed that its terminal wall was almost regularly some
nautical miles off the recognisable beginning of the land,
and the same applies to the more isolated ice rivers,
which descend from the Admiralty Range in Victoria
Land. That in most, if not in all, cases these walls
float was proved by soundings made on one occasion,

256 THE ANTARCTIC:

and is, moreover, to be inferred from the height of
icebergs near the walls, which are uniform with it, and
are undoubtedly floating masses. How far out into the
sea this floating ice is swept it is impossible to tell; but,
considering the enormous horizontal dimensions ot the
icebergs, this distance must often be very considerable.
This fact throws a brilliant light on the well-known
theory of the melting of the icebergs. Sir John Ross’s
theory that the difference of temperature between the
intensely cold upper surface and the much warmer
lower surface of the icebergs causes extreme tension,
and ultimately in winter the severance of the berg, may
turn out to be a true solution of the problem. Another,

Iceberg, after an original water colour of the Challenger Expedition.

albeit merely occasional, cause of the severance of
especially enormous ice masses may be very violent
volcanic eruptions, and the waves generated by them;
it is possible that some occurrences of this kind may be
responsible for the colossal ice-drifts of the years 1891
to 1896.

The height of these floating walls of ice, and the
icebergs newly detached from them, affords the only
means at our disposal for an approximate estimate of
the thickness of the Antarctic inland ice. Croll, for
example, the eminent student of the glacial periods
assumed a maximum thickness of 120,000 to 130,000
feet, but sober observation by no means bears out this

Forms of Icebergs (after the Challenger Reports). [lace page 256.

I, 2. Seen on 21st February, 1874.
3. Seen on 22nd February, 1874.
ae

Seen on 25th February, 1874.

THE -ICE. 257

estimate. The greatest heights observed of perfectly
new bergs with horizontal upper surfaces and vertical
flanks do not exceed 200 feet above the water; 250 feet
has, in fact, never been observed with any reliable degree
of certainty. On the usual basis of calculation, this mass
visible above water would correspond to a _nine-fold
thickness below, z.e., to 1,800 feet under the surface of
the sea, and from this it. would result that the total
thickness of the iceberg would be about 2,000 feet. But
even this calculation is an overestimate, because the
fact is ignored that the mass above the water is speci-
fically lighter than that below, and is therefore borne by
a less volume of the denser mass. The submerged part
may possibly be no more than six-sevenths of the total
height, which would give to a freshly-formed berg of an
average maximum height above water a total thickness of
1,400 to 1,500 feet. If it is further taken into considera-
tion that it is just the submerged part which generally
is the chief carrier of the rock and rubble brought away
imbedded in the ice from the birthplace of the glacier,
one might under circumstances assume a thickness even
less than that just named. The theoretical calculation
of Sir Wyville Thomson leads to the conclusion that
1,400 feet is the maximum thickness that the inland ice
can attain, for a greater superincumbent volume would
by its pressure liquefy the lowest stratum ; this, however,
assumes that the temperature of the lower surface was
at 32 F., which according to Drygalski’s observations in
Greenland need not necessarily be the case.

If Sir W. Thomson’s conjecture is correct, then it
might further be expected that the Antarctic inland ice
is melting underneath—at least slowly—the whole year
round: precisely the same as Nansen has shown to be
happening with the ice of Greenland. If this be not
so, then icebergs would be the only means for removing

the Antarctic inland ice—a mode which brings the
Mi

258 THE ANTARCTIC.

Antarctic regions into close relation with the rest of the
earth’s surface.

The horizontal dimensions of the icebergs vary
greatly ; in high latitudes a length of 13 to 3 or 33
miles is by no means uncommon, and, indeed, some
masses are greatly in excess of these measurements.
For example, the largest seen by Bruce was more than
30 miles long; and another, seen by several ships in
April and May of 1892 in the South Atlantic, in lati-
tude 42° to 46° S. and longitude 30° to 36° W., exceeded
4o miles in length. As these gigantic ice masses are also
correspondingly broad, their surface areas must measure
some thousands of square miles. The years 1891 to
1896 were remarkable for the appearance of ice masses
both numerous and so enormously large that they drifted
far into the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

The drift of the icebergs and their distribution over
the great expanse of the southern ocean is a phenomenon
of supreme importance, both for the study of physical
geography and for the material interests of navigation.
After an Antarctic iceberg has been detached from its
native wall of ice, it may primarily be subject to the im-
pulse of the winds blowing from the land or from the
inland ice, and also to such tidal currents as may occur
near them. But, at some distance from the land, it is
swept along by the force of the true oceanic currents—a
force which must beyond all doubt greatly exceed that of
the winds, as the submerged part of the berg is larger
than the part above water, not only in volume but also
in mass. It is true that the currents of the ocean travel
at a slower rate than those of the air, nevertheless the
impetus given to the berg by a given volume of water
must be much greater than that imparted by a like volume
of air; and as, moreover, a considerably greater mass of
the berg is set in motion by the water than by the air, it
follows that at least in the higher latitudes the path pur-

THE ICE. 259

sued by the berg must depend mainly on the direction of
the prevailing oceanic currents. Under favourable cir-
cumstances this phenomenon might be utilised to observe
the deep-sea currents ; for, since an iceberg, like every
other floating body, must direct its line of gravity parallel
to the impelling current, the longitudinal axis of the berg
must indicate the constant currents prevailing beneath the
changing currents on the surface.

The oceanic currents of the Antarctic regions, on
which the distribution of the icebergs mainly depends,
are as yet known very little—practically not at all. In
the neighbourhood of Graham’s Land, and generally
between it and Cape Horn, regular and comparatively
rapid westward currents have been observed ; they are
due to the regular west winds, and to their extensive
drifts crowded into a proportionately small space and
forming a belt round the great southern ocean, which
extends up to and beyond 60° S. In the higher latitudes
the currents seem naturally to follow the winds in the
same manner; they are, therefore, principally pursuing
a north-west direction, and gradually become a western
drift current.

Near their places of origin the masses of ice, some-
times in huge numbers—witness the voyages of Wilkes,
D’Urville and Ross—disperse far and wide over the
expanse of ocean as the parallels of latitude increase in
size, till at last they disappear in the warmer waters
between the latitudes of 50 and 4o’ S. In the regions
visited by trading vessels a certain periodicity has been
observed in the frequency of icebergs. Barring excep-
tions, pre-eminently the giants seen in the years 1891 to
1896, the months of April to July inclusive, are poor-
est in icebergs. In August their numbers begin to
increase, considerably so in September and October, till
the maximum is reached in November and December.
In January the numbers diminish, still more in February,

200 THE ANTARCTIC,

and in March the state of the ice does not greatly differ
from that of April. As has already been observed, these
rough statistics apply only to the regions visited by com-
merce ; whilst very little, indeed hardly anything, is known
about the state of the ice in higher latitudes—especially
in winter.

The gradual drift northwards leads pretty rapidly to
considerable changes in the shape of the bergs. Rains
and the increased temperature of the air melt portions of
the ice towering above the surface of the sea, and as
the water that penetrates the rifts in the ice freezes
again, 1t expands and breaks off fragments near the
edge with loud reports; along the water-line the
breakers hollow out cavities, growing larger and deeper
till at last the overhanging roof falls in, and finally the
sea water forms cavities all round the berg. The
material of the iceberg being ice formed trom snow, it
follows that the surface water of the sea cannot melt
this substance unless its temperature is 32° F. or more;
whilst in the water with a temperature lower than the
freezing-point, melting cannot take place in the higher
latitudes. The breakers, combined with the melting
process, form submarine ice terraces, proceeding from
and surrounding the berg, which, being hidden, may
easily become dangerous to navigation. If the destruc-
tive forces have removed a large portion of one side
of the berg, then the centre of gravity of the whole
mass is changed, and the berg assumes a different
position. Thus arise those boldly jagged pinnacles
observed in the lower latitudes, whose lofty summits
are balanced by a much larger, but far less deep
reaching mass beneath the surface of the water. It is
seen, then, how unsafe it is to assume, as Dr. Croll
for example has done, that the submarine depth of the
ice is nine times as great as is the height above the
surface of the water.

THE ICE. 261

The numerous illustrations of this work, derived
from the Challenger, are admirable representations of
these wonderful floating masses of ice in the Antarctic
regions, whilst those illustrations which are taken from
Dumont d’Urville’s work exhibit the jagged forms of
icebergs that have undergone considerable destruction.

The extreme northern limits reached by the Ant-
arctic icebergs are indicated in the annexed map; they
lie about latitudes 4o: to 50 S. We possess, however,
reliable information only about the regions which are
regularly visited. In the Atlantic these limits penetrate
farthest north; occasionally the last fragments of icebergs
have been met near the Cape of Good Hope.’ On the

Iceberg seen on 21st February, 1874 (after the Challenger Reports).

other hand, this limit is subject to a noticeable inter-
ruption near Kerguelen and Heard Islands. It seems
that the west wind drift current, being turned aside by
the bank connecting the two islands, travels to the
south-east over a wide expanse of surface and presses
the icebergs backwards. It thus counteracts the cur-
rent presumably parallel to or setting out from Wilkes
Land, and thus brings about the colossal accumulation

1 Whilst these pages were going through the press I have received
the new and surprising intelligence (G. Schott, D. Ozeanographie t. d.
Jahren 1895-96 ; Hettner’s Geogr. Zettschr., iv., p. 46) that a piece of
ice was seen on the 30th of April, 1894, in lat. 26°30’ S. and long.
25.40 W.—THE TRANSLATOR.

262 THE ANTARCTIC.

of icebergs frequently observed in the neighbourhood -
of Wilkes’ problematical termination land. Between
June, 1896, and the commencement of 1898, masses of
icebergs appeared even north of Kerguelen Land. A
similar but less important deviation in the middle
portion of the ice limit is observed south of New
Zealand, and finally also in Drake Strait, which latter
is easily accounted for by the collection of masses of
warm water, which are piled up along the Western
Coast of Patagonia, and partly encircle Cape Horn.

The sea ice of the Antarctic regions is of small
importance in comparison with the icebergs; this is
probably due to the action of the high waves of the
broad, storm-lashed southern ocean, to which the south
polar waters are accessible and exposed. The low
temperature of the winter in high southern latitudes must
of course tend to form extensive fields of ice; but, on
the other hand, they are continually broken up by the
restlessness of the sea. In the higher latitudes of Ross
Sea, fresh ice begins to form very rapidly—as early as the
end of February—whilst Weddell saw not the least trace
of fresh ice at the same time of year in Weddell Sea, in
latitude 74° 15'S. In the region west of Peter I. Island,
Hudson and Walker found that in latitude 69° to 70° S.
fresh ice began to form at the end of March; along the
coast of Wilkes Land no observations have as yet been
made on the formation of new ice; presumably it will not
take place before the end of February, unless we suppose
that this month was in 1840 unusually mild. On the
other hand, Biscoe noticed that in the first days of March
the sea near Enderby Land was in a short time covered
with ice an inch thick, when the water was calm.

No direct observations have as yet been made on
the thickness which Antarctic sea ice attains in the course
of the winter. It has been asserted that clumps of ice
a year old were some three feet thick, but this is an

THE ICE. 263

isolated observation. On the other hand, all Antarctic
travellers have been struck by the fact that the indi-
vidual fields were of less expanse than they are in the
Arctic Seas. Wilkes, for example, never saw one that
was more than one and a half miles across; in Ross
Sea they are larger, but the largest were observed by
Ross to the south-east of Mount Haddington, where
they were sometimes five miles in diameter. It seems
that the protecting influence of the land makes itself felt
here, as the ice finds abundant support and shelter from
the waves. In the deep inlets strong coast ice was seen
that had lasted all through the summer, by Ross south-
west of Mount Haddington, by Larsen between Mount
Haddington and King Oscar Land, and again by Ross
west of Cape North in Victoria Land, and also west of
Mount Erebus.

The surface on which sea ice is formed may probably
comprise all the coasts together with the adjacent arms
and inlets of the sea that penetrate some way into the
land; this can be inferred from the breadth of the zone
of pack-ice through which Ross sailed in his second
voyage, and the extent of which is nearly equal to that
of Ross Sea. It is, however, for reasons previously
discussed, highly improbable that this ice covering forms
one unbroken mass ; on the contrary the ice is first broken
up, then crowded together, and the separate blocks piled
on the top of each other, till pack-ice is formed. But
even this will not bear comparison with the pack-ice of
the Arctic regions, as is expressly stated by Ross,
notwithstanding that he had met on his second voyage
ice masses that had undergone such very heavy pressure,
that not a single really level field was to be seen, every-
thing being confusedly piled up, and yet not towering
more than ten to fifteen feet above water. A peculiarity
very inconvenient to navigation is the circumstance that
large hard fragments of icebergs are imbedded in the

264 THE ANTARCTIC.

Antarctic pack-ice ; in some places, indeed, especially near
the land, these constitute a very considerable fraction of
it. It is equally characteristic of the Antarctic ice-blocks
that they are crowned with a thick coat of snow, which
not infrequently exceeds three feet in thickness.

Nothing definite can be stated with respect to the
time when the ice thaws and begins to drift north ; this
evidently varies very considerably just as in the north ;
and even in the most northerly advanced post in the
region of the South Orkneys, and especially the South
Shetland Isles, it was found that some years they were
accessible very early, vzz., in October, and at other years
not till December. Unlike the icebergs the sea ice
depends for its motion mainly on the winds and on surface
currents. Travellers have observed that a single storm
may completely change the aspect of the sea, or rather of
its ice covering. The general tendency of the drift of
the pack-ice is towards the north, like that of the icebergs,
but it is much less regular, being frequently driven back
by northerly winds. In consequence of the circumstance
that land lies to the south, which excludes the possibility
of more sea ice following in support, an open sea com-
paratively free from ice is met with in the Antarctic
regions almost regularly when the principal zone of pack-
ice has been pierced; this is specially the case in the
neighbourhood of Ross Sea and Weddell Sea, but it also
holds for the coasts of Wilkes Land and Graham’s Land.
Had the Challenger pushed forward farther south, she
also would probably have found a more extensive sea
surface, or at least an open coast-land.

The lower latitudes reached by the pack-ice naturally
fall far short of the extreme, and to some extent even of
the mean, limit of the icebergs; nevertheless the sea ice
reaches fairly low latitudes, and, like the icebergs, mostly
so in the Atlantic, where it has been known to arrive at
and beyond 48° S. According to some statements it

THE ICE. 205

would even appear that in 1892 the drift of the gigantic
iceberg brought in its train sea ice as far north as 41° or
42° S.; however, this may have been mere fragments of
icebergs, since it can hardly be supposed that in the sea
surface, greatly chilled though it was by the melting
glacier ice, the salt-water ice could have drifted so far
north, seeing that it thaws so much more readily.
Both kinds of ice, icebergs, and sea ice bring to the
temperate latitudes of the southern ocean large quantities
of cold water ; nevertheless these do not suffice to replace
the water withdrawn from the tropics by evaporation. The
necessary compensation is effected by the exceedingly slow
movement of the icy cold waters at the bottom of the
sea coming from the south polar regions. This forward
- movement extends to the Equator and far to the north
ofit. On the other hand, the melting Antarctic ice causes
a great reduction of the surface temperature of the sea
in higher latitudes, and also of the lower strata of water
in the middle latitudes, in fact, over the whole extent
of the drift of the icebergs. The investigations of the
Challenger have shown that in the neighbourhood of the
real pack-ice the surface temperature is uniformly below
32° F., but above 28° F., the freezing-point of sea water.
Farther north the temperatures gradually increase, but
between the higher temperatures on the surface, and a
stratum of equal temperature at a depth of from 500 to
600 feet a body of colder water is wedged in, extending
to about 53S. This is due to the fact that the glacier
ice melting in salt water forms with the later a sort of
freezing mixture, which reduces the temperature of these
mixed waters from 32° F. to 28:9 F. But this mixture
cannot sink to the bottom, being partly fresh water, and
therefore specifically lighter than the lower stratum which
though warmer is more saline. For organic life in the sea
this fact is of great importance, as the richest animal life
is most abundantly developed in this cold and cool water.

Vin PAUNA AND FLORA:

Tue distribution of land and water in the Antarctic re-
gions, and the complete glaciation of the former, at least
in the high latitudes, brings it about that in the south
polar regions organic life is all but restricted to the sea,
and comprises forms which are partly peculiar to those
districts, and partly are to be found also more widely
distributed in other bio-geographical regions. Both king-
doms of organic life, plants and animals, possess a specially
characteristic feature in the Arctic as weil as in the
Antarctic region, vzz., poverty in species, but wealth,
sometimes exuberant wealth, in individuals, so long as.
man, as a destructive agent, does not appear on the
scene. ,

The vegetable world of the Antarctic regions, in our
definition of this latter term, is most abundantly represented
in the island of South Georgia, which is its most advanced
northerly position. Dr. Will, the botanist of the German
station in Royal Bay, found that arboreous ligneous plants
did not exist, but there were thirteen species of phanero-
gamous, besides numerous cryptogamous plants, which in
summer clothe every spot free from snow with their not
over-luxuriant verdure. The only plant with a vivid blos-
som is a yellow flowering, small ranunculus, ranaunculus
biternatus, which grows in moist localities hidden in the
moss. The characteristic plants of the South Georgian
landscape are the tussock grass, joa flabellata (dactylis
caespttosa), which is peculiar to the Antarctic flora, a grami-

neous plant growing on small hillocks raised by the plant
(266)

FAUNA AND FLORA. 2607

itself ; its stiff, bristly blades attain a height of 43 to 5 feet.
Next comes a rosaceous plant, acaena ascendens, which,
rising to a height of one foot, forms bushes that cover
extensive tracts of ground. There is also another but
rarer grass, azvra antarctica, which is of some importance,
and in the swamps a rush, rostkovin magellanica, grows
in considerable abundance. As for the rest, large-leaved
mosses are predominant ; they cover broad plains with a
mat-like coating a foot thick; and on the steep, rocky
slopes lichens grow, and most prominently the so-called

4 re BLN Dy Ve SY x 3 : es :

aa Pima

Tussock Grass (after Hooker),

reindeer moss (cladonta rangiferina) and a genus of lichen
(xeuropogon melaxanthus, usnea melaxantha), whose sul-
phur-coloured leaflets are seen to gleam on high elevations.
In the shallows along the coast grow numerous species of
algee, and most commonly the familiar sea-tang (macro-
cystis pyrifera) as well as another species of a gigantic
Antarctic sea-weed, the durvillea.

South of Drake Strait the flora is much scantier.
Nothing is as yet known with any precision of the
vegetation on the South Shetland Isles; we only know
from the reports of seal-hunters that a kind of grass is

268 THE ANTARCTIC.

growing there, possibly the poa flabellata, and that the
ground, where free from snow, is partly covered with
moss. The flora on the landing place of Cockburn
Island, latitude 64° 12’ S., in Admiralty Sound, has been
minutely described by Hooker, the eminent botanist, at
that time assistant surgeon on board the Hredus. All in
all he found nineteen species, four of which were marine
alge, growing on the beach. The rest consist of three
fresh-water plants and twelve land plants. Among the
latter those of highest organisation are the mosses,
represented by five species; next come six species of
lichens, among which the “ecanora mintata is specially
noticeable in consequence of its yellow colour, seen from
a great distance, and the rest are alge. Compared with
this relatively great wealth of species, Cape Adare and
Possession Islands appear to great disadvantage, seeing
that only one species of lichen has as yet been noticed in
those localities. The appalling poverty of the Antarctic
regions stands out in glaring light when compared with
the plant-life of the Arctic regions, where, as has already
been stated above, nine species of flowering plants are
found in much higher latitudes, e.g., in Grinnell Land,
at 82° 30’ N., in the midst of a luxuriant vegetation of
mosses, supplying rich pasture for terrestrial mammals.

Of pre-eminent importance is a certain microscopic
plant which occurs in all the high southern latitudes, and
fills the sea with individuals absolutely innumerable,
closely following the floating ice masses, being probably
attracted by the low temperatures there prevailing. They
are diatomacee, siliceous algae, which sometimes fill the
sea with a thick rusty-brown pulp of repulsive smell,
whose flinty shell, sinking to the bottom, largely con-
tributes to the formation of the deep-sea mud in high
latitudes.

On the presence of this minute form of vegetable
life is based the existence of the abundant animal life in

FAUNA AND FLORA. 269)

Antarctic waters; animals exclusively adapted to life on
land do not, and cannot, exist in the Antarctic regions,
owing to the absence of all the conditions necessary to
their existence. Though Borchgrevingk lately noticed
scars of wounds upon some seals, which led him to believe
in the existence of some mysterious, powerful beast of
prey, it has been most conclusively proved that these
wounds were inflicted by the teeth of a_ ferocious
cetacean—the orca gladiator.

The mammals of the south polar regions are repre-
sented by whales and seals, that is, by animals that are
either entirely or principally adapted to life in the water.
A systematic classification of the whales of the Antarctic
waters does not yet exist ; nor is it known to what extent
they resemble their northern congeners. Ross’s assertion
that the Greenland whale (dazena mysticetus), the whale
of highest commercial importance, occurs in great
numbers in the regions of Ross Sea and of the Dirk
Gerritz Archipelago has been confirmed neither by the
voyage of the Antarctic to Victoria Land, nor by the
voyages of Larsen or the Dundee whalers. All the
whales so far seen were Rorquals (finners), which do not
repay the trouble of catching. In addition to these
mention is made of the bottle-nose whale (yferoodon
éidens) and the orca gladiator, which are seen in large
numbers ; but the identity of these animals with northern
forms is not satisfactorily established.

This is true in a still higher degree of the seals, which
originally existed in few species but in huge multitudes
of individuals—they are in fact the only Antarctic
mammals that partially visit the land. The sea-elephant
(cystophora proboscidea) is the largest living representa-
tive of the true seals; there are also met with in the
Dirk Gerritz Archipelago four species (stexorhynchus
leptonyx), Weddell’s seal (stenorhynchus Weddelit), the

sea-leopard (stenorhyncus carcinophaga), and Ross’s seal

270 THE ANTARCTIC.

(omatophoca Rossi). On the other hand, the exceedingly
important fur-seal, belonging to the Eared Seals, the sea-
bear (o¢aria jubata), has of late ceased to be seen.

The sea-elephant is still found in South Georgia,
but no longer in such huge shoals as were wont at the
beginning of the century to attract seal-hunters. Accord-
ing to Weddell’s statistics more than 20,000 tons of
sea-elephant oil had been gained at that island from the
day of its discovery by Cook up to the twenties of this
century, by which time these animals had been well nigh
extirpated. The fate that they suffered in South Georgia
also overtook them in the South Shetlands, where
Weddell reports that he had had 2,000 of them killed
in a single visit. In the higher latitudes, on the other
hand, in the districts of Wilkes’ Land and Victoria Land,
the sea-elephant seems to be absent altogether ; at least
none of the discoverers make mention of it.

Of the other true seals, four in number, v. d. Steinen, a
member of the German expedition, proved the existence
also of the sea-leopard in South Georgia, but in small
numbers only. Larsen and the Dundee whalers have
seen it in greater numbers near Louis-Philippe Land and
King Oscar Land. In the same district Larsen met a
very large school of what appeared to be the sea-leopard
or crab-eater, but his accounts are so vague that it is hard
to determine what species he refers to. At any rate the
four species of seals here named seem to have a circum-
polar distribution.

Next to the mammals, the Birds of the Antarctic
regions are best known. The true water birds, adapted
by their webbed feet to live on both land and water,
are most largely represented; and there are, besides,
two waders (chzonts), which belong exclusively to the
Antarctic regions. The next species with the largest
number of representatives are the stormy petrels (frvo-
cellartide) and the penguins (zmpennes or aptenody-

FAUNA AND FLORA. 271

tiornithes), of all birds the most peculiar, and most
characteristic of the south polar regions. Their an-
terior extremities have assumed the shape of paddles,
fitting them admirably for swimming and diving.
Although several varieties of them have spread as far
as the coasts of Chili and of South Africa, as well as
Australia and New Zealand, yet it is in the Antarctic
regions where the greatest number and most important
varieties occur. Always sitting, standing, or walking in
upright posture, as is shown on a reduced scale in many
of our illustrations, they give animation to the ice and
more or less accessible rocks, where they form large
colonies of breeding places. On rocky ground they
waddle awkwardly along, but on the ice and on the
snow they lie down flat on their belly, and using their
paddles as supports they slide forward with such speed
that a man running can hardly keep up with them. In
swimming they show greater skill than any other bird,
and inexperienced mariners have often mistaken them
for small dolphins.

The largest species is the king penguin (aptenodytes
Jongirostris), an imposing bird with magnificent plumage.
Bruce measured specimens of this species, and found
them to be when standing 4 ft. 6 in. high, and up-
wards of 4 ft. in circumference ; they weighed from 55
lb. to 66 Ib. or more. The creature possesses great
tenacity, and exhibits an unsuspected physical strength.
Five men were scarcely able to hold down a king pen-
guin chased by Bruce. The king penguin is, however,
not very common, being in this respect far surpassed
by the Gentoo penguin (pygoscelis papua), the bridled
penguin (pygoscelts antarctica), and the macaroni (exdyptes
chrysolophus), which are very numerous in South Georgia,
and in still higher latitudes.

Farther north the chionis, stormy petrels and penguins
are joined by cormorants, and in South Georgia by a

272 LTE ANTARCTIC.

species of ducks, Eaton’s duck (guerguedula Eatonz), and
a sea-gull identical with, or nearly related to the northern
Great Skua (stercorarius catarrhactes) is met with in
still higher latitudes.

Reptiles and amphibious animals have not been seen
in the Antarctic regions, and considering the conditions
of life needful for their existence they may safely be
regarded as excluded from them. Fishes, however, on
which mammals and birds feed, exist in rich abundance,
but little progress has as yet been made in their identifica-
tion and classification ; the only zoological observations,
of any extent, that have been recorded are those of the
short trip far to the south made by the Chadlenger, and
even there attention was mainly directed to the deep-
sea fauna. In general it may be observed that the
animal life in the true Antarctic waters shows near
kinship to, if not identity with, that of the Arctic regions.

Of invertebrate animals the information supplied us,
especially by the investigations of the Challenger, shows
the existence of a great number of species and individuals.
It would lead us too far to enter into details, but a few
facts may be enumerated. Of the species of tunicata
large pyrosomide, and ascidiz a foot long have not un-
frequently been seen floating on the surface of the sea.
Of molluscs we must especially mention those found by
Ross called paddling snails, of the species “macino
and cfzo, which form a chief article of food for the
whales, exactly as in the Arctic regions; also a small
pretty cephalopod, the avgonauta antarctica, which fre-
quents the neighbourhood of icebergs, besides great
numbers of shells and snails. Brachiopods and worms,
and especially crab-like animals, serve as articles of food
for higher organisations, showing the high importance
to be attached to the crabs of low organisation which
often appear in huge multitudes. Among the Ccelenterata
large jelly-fish are seen on the surface, and the discovery

FAUNA AND FLORA. 273

of live coral at the bottom of Ross Sea excited no small
surprise at the time. These southern regions possess
also a rich abundance of protozoa, which are present in
every quarter, but the forms that have a most important
bearing on the general biology and on the sedimentary
formations, vzz., the globigernia and the radiolaria are
more commonly superseded by the above-mentioned
vegetable diatomacee.

It is‘obvious now, that whatever products the Ant-
arctic regions yield belong exclusively to the animal
kingdom, the existence of useful coal beds in the South
Shetland Isles being as yet very problematical. For the
economic uses of man only seals and whales seem of
importance, and even these do not seem to be offering
a promising prospect, seeing that so far the only voyage
to Victoria Land to be repeated is that of the Axtarctec.
The main cause of this state of things is the absence of
a valuable species of whales and of the fur-bearing seal,
which, once abundant enough, have been exterminated. It
is said that in the early twenties of the nineteenth century
over 300,000 individuals were killed, in addition to about
1,200,000 destroyed between the re-discovery of South
Georgia by Cook and the year 1810, z.e., in barely forty-
five years. Weddell says that the seal skins of American
hunters mostly exported to China fetched $5 a piece ;
calculated on this basis the above numbers would re-
present a sum of 41,500,000. At the present time these
exceedingly costly skins would naturally fetch much
higher prices. As seal-hunters carried on their hideous
butcheries without any discrimination and barely left even
sucklings unmolested, and these, then, perished from want
of care and nurture, it is not surprising that this exceed-
ingly valuable breed of seals should have been all but
extirpated within a few years, to the great loss of the
shortsighted seal-hunters themselves.

18

VIL- ERE FUTURE JOR ANDARCisS
DISCOVERY:

Tue object of the preceding chapters has been to present
to the reader a general view of the whole of our present
knowledge of the Antarctic regions. We have exhibited
the history of the gradual expansion of this knowledge,
the distribution of land and of water as far as it is known.
We have discussed the results of the scanty observations
made on the climatic elements, and on the sequence of
phenomena due to them, as well as the predominance of
the ice, and in short outlines the most important forms
of organic life, both animals and plants, and yet all this
merely shows that for the geographer the south polar
regions are little more than an emphatic point of in-
terrogation, a frank confession that on every branch of
geographical knowledge we stand before a riddle, the
solution of which belongs to the future. It is not
merely because the number of unknown regions on our
earth has been largely reduced, but mainly because all
branches of geography have gained in depth, that the
necessity is more and more forced upon science of
energetically attacking the long-neglected study of the
south polar regions, since it is impossible to conceive
a complete system of geographical theories so long as
such knowledge is wanting.

In the last sections of the ‘‘ History of Discovery ”
mention has been made of the stimulus given and the
efforts made to reanimate Antarctic research by its most

eminent living advocate and representative. Georg
(274)

FUTURE OF ANTARCTIC DISCOVERY. 275

Neumayer, the present director of the famous German
Observatory in Hamburg, the most eminent institution
for hydrography and maritime meteorology, has not
ceased in his efforts to promote an expedition to the
south polar regions for purely scientific purposes ever
since 1856, when he went to Australia for the second
time to fit up and direct the Flagstaff Observatory at

Georg Neumayer.

Melbourne, which was erected for the study of terrestrial
magnetism, hydrography and meteorology. He had early
become aware of the fact that it was practically impossible
to prosecute the study of terrestrial magnetism and of
atmospheric phenomena so long as the Antarctic regions
remained a ¢erra incognita, principally because the obser-
vations made by Ross had become too antiquated to be
useful to the first named of these two sciences. But

276 DPEVANTARCTIC:

Neumayer’s endeavours to promote such an expedition
proved unavailing, and he had to rest content with
pressing home the necessity of south polar investiga-
tions in lectures, delivered first at Melbourne, and then
after his return home, in Germany ; unfortunately-to no
purpose, owing to a want of intelligent interest in these
problems, even amongst the educated classes; unless,
indeed, the fact that the southward advance of the
Challenger followed the lines laid down by him be
regarded as a result of his labours. At last, in 1882
and 1883, a considerable step forward was made in
polar studies both North and South, when, thanks to
Neumayer’s unwearied efforts, Weyprecht’s proposal
was adopted, vzz., to encircle both the Poles with a
system of permanent stations, at which, during at least
a year, the elements of terrestrial magnetism and of
meteorology should be synoptically and thoroughly inves-
tigated. It is true that, as has already been mentioned
before, the South Pole, in which Neumayer was specially
interested, had been treated very step-motherly. The
North Pole was surrounded by ten stations, all within
the Arctic circle, in addition to two stations north of
the sixtieth parallel, and six meteorological stations of
the second rank placed by Germany in Labrador. On
the other hand, in the Antarctic regions there were but
two stations erected, vzz., the German in South Georgia
and the French in Tierra del Fuego, and even these
were the one 10 and .the other 12 north oii@iite
Antarctic circle ; and, moreover, the utility of these
two stations was diminished by their being but 36° of
longitude asunder, when it would naturally have been
desirable that 180 should have intervened between
them. Nevertheless the station in South Georgia has
become specially important in geographical science, in-
dependent of the results in the domains of meteorology
and terrestrial magnetism; so important, that Royal

FUTURE OF ANTARCTIC DISCOVERY. 277

Bay on that island, and the surrounding district may
be regarded as that spot in the Antarctic regions which
is best known in every respect.

The meteorological results secured in the south
polar stations were so interesting and _ startling, that
they once more emphasised the supreme importance of
Antarctic investigations, not only for the science of
meteorology, but also for the theory of the structure of
the surface of the whole globe and its organic life, as is
made evident by what has been said about the structure
of the surface of the island. This matter was discussed
at three meetings of the German Geographical Congress,
and this assembly of eminent savants publicly and em-
phatically declared Antarctic investigations to be both
necessary and feasible; however, this resolution led to
no practical effect, the needful means not being forth-
coming from either public or private sources.

The urgent appeal of German geographers found
an echo on the other side of the German Ocean. John
Murray, the distinguished member of the Challenger
expedition, who after the decease of its scientific head
was charged with the publication of its results, published
in 1886 a detailed and very weighty treatise on the
exploration of the south polar regions. Now at last
it seemed that the persistent endeavours were to be
crowned with a successful result; Nordenskidld, the
famous circumnavigator of Asia, expressed his intention
of adding to his northern voyage a voyage to the south
polar regions; governments and private supporters in
Australia were reported to be willing to find the needful
means, but all these hopeful prospects were once more
doomed to disappointment and came to nothing.

Nevertheless, Murray’s work had the small practical
result that seal catching and whale fishery in the An-
tarctic regions was resumed by the Dundee whalers
and by the Hamburg Society Oceana. Although the

278 THE ANTARCTIC.

enterprise did not prove a commercial success, yet it not
only added somewhat to our geographical knowledge,
but it once more demonstrated that the ice of the south
polar waters opposed no insurmountable obstacle to
scientific exploration. At the same time these voyages
had to some extent roused a widespread interest in

John Murray.

Antarctic discovery. Relying on this, the indefatigable
advocate of Antarctic exploration in Germany once more
brought the subject forward at the Geographical Congress
of Bremen, and demonstrated its necessity for the domains
of meteorology and terrestrial magnetism. He was sup-
ported by E. von Drygalski and E. Vanhdéffen, the excel-
lent investigators into the nature of the inland ice of

FUTURE OF ANTARCTIC DISCOVERY. 279

Greenland ; the former pointed out the necessity of
studying the nature of Antarctic ice, and the latter the
problem of the origin of organic life in those regions.
These appeals proved highly successful; the Geographical
Congress appointed a committee under the chairmanship
of G. Neumayer, instructing them ‘to consult on the
possibility of speedily despatching to the Antarctic
regions a German scientific expedition, and if the report
should be favourable to initiate the first steps for its
execution ”. This committee in its turn elected a Board
consisting of a great number of eminent scientists and
students of geography, and presided over by Neumayer.
They elaborated a plan, determining the scientific and
practical direction of the enterprise. They pointed out
that its range should not be restricted to a mere ex-
tension of Antarctic topography, but that the study of
meteorology, of terrestrial magnetism, of the shape of
the globe, of zoology, botany and geology, and finally
of the investigation of Antarctic ice, urgently required
a winter sojourn in the Antarctic zone. This entailed
the necessity of settling on a suitable place for winter
quarters on land, and in order to keep up communication
with the rest of the world the expedition must have a
special ship at its disposal, in addition to another vessel
engaged in studying the local geography, the distribution
of land and water, and hydrography. If the operations
are to have a permanent scientific value, they must ex-
tend over a period of not less than three years, which
means a sojourn of two winters in those regions.

With respect to the quarter whence the expedition is
to penetrate into the south polar regions, the Commission
selected the route advocated by G. Neumayer for nearly
fifty years, vez, the meridian of Kerguelen, or there-
abouts (70° to 85° E.), as, with the exception of the flying
visit paid by the Challenger, this region has not yet been
searchingly examined, and new results cannot fail to

280 THE ANTARCTIC.

be secured—no matter whether land is met with or not.
Moreover, this region is excellently fitted for the establish-
ment of a station, because being nearly equidistant from
the observatories of the Cape and of the south point of
Australia, combined work could be undertaken. The
district of Ross Sea and the neighbourhood of Graham’s
Land are disregarded, as they receive sufficient attention
from English and Belgian explorers.

As for the practical arrangements: both the vessels
of the expedition are to be steamers, of about 400 tons
measurement, strengthened for ice navigation; each is
to be manned by a crew of thirty men, inclusive of four
officers and four men of science. The cost of the whole
undertaking would in round numbers be about 447,500
(950,000 Marks), which is to be raised by private sub-
scriptions, and if possible by government subsidy.

All this was agreed upon more than two years ago,
and meanwhile the elaboration of the scheme has been
vigorously pushed forward. Will it ever be carried
out? Will the German nation be mindful of what it
still owes to science if it would retain its designation
of the “Nation of Thinkers and Investigators?” Or
will it once more allow itself to be outstripped even
by smaller European nations? In this very southern
summer a Belgian expedition, under De Gerlache has
gone in search of the waters east of Graham’s ance en
new whaling expedition, having E. Borchgrevingk on
board, is reported to have started from Australia; it is
intended that they should pass the winter at Cape Adare,
and thence advance polewards on snow-shoes ; in England
also and in the United States South Polar Expeditions,
planned by Fridtjof Nansen, the greatest polar traveller
of our day, are being taken in hand. Will Germany and
German science again commit the oft-repeated mistake
of being too late, and be content to accept the leavings
of others? The prize is great, and independent of the

FUTURE OF ANTARCTIC DISCOVERY. 281

inestimable results for geophysical science, the German
scheme can contribute to prove the existence or non-
existence of an Antarctic continent, as well as the
connection of Wilkes Land and Enderby Land. We
Germans should never forget what has been done for
the advancement of science by the governments and
private individuals of small and mostly poor nations, such
as Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland and Belgium.
German prosperity is advancing on all sides; it is
assuredly much greater than it was when the Germanza
and the HYansa set out for East Greenland, zo¢ at the
charge of any government, but supported by the contribu-
tions of private individuals of all classes, who were
enthusiastic in the cause of science. Oh that Germany
would find a Dickson and a Gamel, a Wilezek and a
Sibirjakoff, not to mention hosts of others, so that German
science may also have her share in the solution of this
last and greatest problem of geography! Not merely
the rich, but everybody who possesses knowledge of,
and interest in, this undertaking can contribute his mite
and aid in the realisation of this aspiration. The author
of this present work will consider himself abundantly
rewarded if he has been able by his labour to awaken a
lively interest in German South Polar Exploration.

10 Longitude West of Greenwich O Longitude ast of Greenwich\O

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ElobOF IMPORTAN ReBOOKS. ARTICLES
AN DVLA S,

(cz) HISTORY OF EARLY, DISCOVERY.

y. Wieser, Magalhaesitrage und uftralfontinent a. d. Globen ves Fob.
Schoner. (On Amerigo Vespucci.) 1881.

S. Ruge, Das unbefannte Sudland. Deutjche Geogr. Blatter, 1895. 3.
P. 147. (Earliest conjectures down to Ye Maire.)

De Brosses, Ffistotre des Navigations aux Terres Australes. 1756.
(Specially important for Bouvet.)

Capt. Jas. Cook, Voyage towards the South Pole and round the World.
igi. 2 90S:

Burney, 4 Chronological History of the Discovertes in the South Sea or
Pacific Ocean. 5 vols. 1803 sgq.

(2) HISTORY OF LATER DISCOVERY.

Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, iii., iv., v. 1820-22. (‘* Discovery
and Exploration of the South Shetland Islands.”’)

Neue allgemcine geographifdhe Ephemeriden; 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15,
16. 1820-22, 24-25. (The same.)

vy. Bellingshaujen, Sweimalige Unterfuchungen tm jidlichen Gismeer und
Reife um die Welt in den Jahren r81g-21. 1831 (in Russian). Short
abstract :—-

&. Lowe, Bellingshaujens Meijfe nach der Sidfee u. Entdecfungen im fil.
Gismeer. Grmans Archiv fiir wiffenfchaytl. Mde. v. Mupland. II.,
1842.

J. Weddell, A Voyage towards the South Pole, 1822-24. 1825.

Webster, Varrative of a Voyage to the Southern Atlantic. 2 vols. 1834.

(Voyage of the Chanticleer under Captain Foster.)
(283)

284 THE ANTARCTIC:

Kendall, ‘““An Account of the Island of Deception”. Journ. of the
Roy. Geogr. Soc. 1833. Pp. 62-66. (Foster’s voyage.)

J. Biscoe, “‘ Recent Discoveries in the Antarctic Ocean”. Journ. of the
Roy. Geogr. Soc. 1833. Pp. 105-12.

Nautical Magazine. 1835. Pp. 265-75. (Foster’s voyage.)

J. Balleny, “ Discoveries in the Antarctic Ocean, 1839”. Journ. of the
Roy. Geogr. Soc. 1839. (Notices of the same also in Ross, zz/,)

J. S.C. Dumont d’Urville, Voyage au Péle Sud et dans 0 Octanie,
1841-54. (Vols. ii. and viii.; also Atlas Pittoresque.)

Chas. Wilkes, United States Exploring Expedition. 5 vols., and Atlas.
1845 sgg. (Vols. i. and ii.)

J.C. Ross, Voyage of Discovery and Research to the Southern and Ant-
arctic Regions. 2 vols. 1846.

R. McCormick, Voyages of Discovery in the Antarctic and the Arctic
Seas. 2 vols. 1884. (Vol. i. treats of the voyage of 3. ©. Rof.)

Moore, ‘‘ Magnetic Voyage of the Pagoda’. Nautical Magazine. 1846.

On Dallmanns Discoveries: essays by A. Schiteé in the Verhand{ungen
Dd. Vereing fir naturm. Unterhaltung, V., Hamburg 1882, and Beit-
{ehrijt fiir wiffenfeh. Geogr., VI., Weimar 1888.

W. Mlutfchak, Gin Befuch auf Sitd-Georgien. Deutjeye Mundjehau fiir
Geogr. u. Statiftif. 1881.

H1.M.S. Challenger: Report on the Scientific Results, etc. Narrative.
Vol. i. London, 1885.

Die internationale Polarforfung. Die deutfchen Erpeditionen und
ihre Ergebnijfe. Herausgegeben y. G. Neumayer. 2 vols. Berlin 1891.

©. Mofthaff and H. Will, Die Infel Sitd-Georgien. Deutfche Geogr.
Sider -TOo4au tv le, ptea2:

Vogel, Uber die Sehneee und Gletfcherverhaltniffe auf Sid Georgien.
Sabhreshericht >. Geogr. Gejellfch. in Miinchen fiir 1885. Pt. ro.

Burn-Murdoch, rom Edinburgh to the Antarctic. Wondon, 1894.

(Qarjen), Dr. 3. Peterfen, Die Meijen ves ,,Sajon” und der ,, Hertha” in
Das Antarétijehe Meer 1893/94. Reprint from the Mitteilungen
Dd. Geogr. Gejelljeh. in Hamburg 1895.

C. E. Borchgrevingk, “The Aztarctic’s Voyage to the Antarctic”’.
Geogr. Journ. 1895. Vol. v. No. 6.

Uber die Reife ves Antarctic nach Viftoria-Land. Verhandlungen
der Gejfelljch. f. Grofunde zu Berlin. 1895. Nos. 8 and 9.

H. J. Bull, Zhe Cruise of the “‘ Antarctic” to the South Polar Regions.
London, 1896.

“ Cruise of the Ba/ena and the Active in the Antarctic Seas, 1892-02.”
I. The Balena, by W. S. Bruce. Geogr. Journ. 1896. Vol.
vil. No. 5—II. The Active, by Charles W. Donald. Geogr.
Journ. 1896. Vol. vil. No. 6.

IMPORTANT BOOKS, ARTICLES AND MAPS: 285

(c) MOST IMPORTANT MODERN GEOGRAPHICAL WORKS

Y.

ON HEV ANTARCTIC:

PBetermann, Petermanns neue Marte dev Sitdpolar-Megionen. Peterz
manng Geogr. Mitteilungen. 1863.

®&. Meumayer: A selection of the most important of his numerous

oR

works :—

(2) Die Erforfehung des Sitd-Polar-Gebietes. Berlin 1872. Beitfehr.
der Geyellych. f. Grofunde (also as a ,, Gonderabdruct ’’).

(2) Notwendigfeit und Durchfubrbarfeit d. antarét. Forjeung. BWerbhand-
lungen d. V. deutjden Geographentages zu Hamburg. Berlin 1885.

(c) Bericht wher den Fortqgang der Beftrebungen zu Gunjten der antarée
tijthen Forjdung. Berhandlungen d. VIL. deutichen Geographentages
zu Marlsrube. Berlin 1887.

(dz) Die neuejten Fortichritte zu Gunjten einer wijfenfehartlichen Crfor-
jehung der antarttijcen Region. Wnnalen der Hydrographie u. marit.
Meteorologie. 21. Fabrg. 1893. XII.

(ec) Uber Sitdpolarforfehung. Bericht des VI. Ynternationalen Geo-
grapbhenfongrejjes. London 1895.

. Ragel, Vetratungen uber Natur und Erforfehung der Polarregionen.

, Ausland’ 1883 u. 1884. (Also as a separate impression.)

—— Aufgaben ver geographijchen Forfehung in der Antarftis. Wer-
handlungen de8 V. Deutjchen Geographentages in Hamburg. Berlin
1885.

. Peneé, Die erdgejchichtliche Bedeutung der Sitdpolarforfchung. Zdzd.

&. W. Peters, Die Bedeutung der antarftijcen Forfchung fir die
Geodafte. Lbzd.

. Reiter, Die Siidpolarfrage und ihre Bedeutung fitr die genetijche Gliederung

der Crooberflache. Beitjchrift fiir wiffenjchaftliche Geographic. Weimar
ESO7e VOl.Vi- bts, i:

. Murray, ‘‘ The Exploration of the Antarctic Regions”. 1886. Scot.

Geogr. Mag. Vol. il.

—— ‘The Renewal of Antarctic Exploration”. 1894. Geogr.
Journ. Vol. ili. No. 1.

Srider, die Entftehung und Verbreitung des antarftifeven Treibeijes.
1893.

. o Drygalsft, Die Sitdpolarforjchung und die Probleme ves Gifed.

Verhandlungen d. XI. veutjchen Geographentages zu Bremen. Berlin
1895.

. Vanhoffen, Welches Interejfe haben Zoologie und Botanif an o. Gre

forjchung des Sudpolargebietes? Ldzd.

286 THE ANTARCTIC.

(7) CHARTS AND MAPS.

Many of the above works contain maps, more especially those of
Weddell, Dumont d’Urville, Wilkes and Ross. The more important
recent maps are :—

1. GENERAL Maps OF THE WHOLE SOUTH POLAR REGION.

G. Neumayer, Sitdpolarfarte nach dem gegenwartigen Stand des geographi-
{een und pbhyfifalifcren Wiffens. 1: 40,000,000. Berlin 1872.
eitiebr. der Gefellfch. fiir Erdfunde.

J. Murray, ‘‘ Exploration of the Antarctic Regions”. Scot. Geogr. Mag.
1886. With map in the scale of about 1 : 45,000,000.

—— ‘Renewal of Antarctic Explorations”. Geogr. Journ. 1894.
Appended is a map of the South Polar Region in the same scale,
as well as nine smaller maps representing marine sediments, ice,
climate and terrestro-magnetism.

H. Reiter, Die Antarfti3, 1: 20,000,000. Beitychrift fir wiffenfchaftliche
Geographie. 1887.

The most important maps in modern Atlases are :—

YW PRetermann, Sid-Polar-Marte, 1: 40,000,000. Stielers Handatlas,
No. 7; and that in the Atlas Universel of Vivien de St.
Martin and Schrader.

’ An excellent map on a large scale is the Gitppolarfarte of —

PVincenz ». Haardt, 1:10,000,000, Vienna, 1895, with numerous
insets exhibiting the physical conditions.

Two maps by the British Admiralty should finally be mentioned :—

Ice Chart of the Southern Hemisphere, No. 1241, and also

South Polar Chart, No. 1240.

The most valuable special map of recent times is :—

Friedrijden, Originalfarte des Dir-Gherrits-Archipels, mit Begleitworten.
Hamburg, 1895.

INDEX.

AcTIVE Sound, 124, 173, 174, 175.
Adare, Cape, 95, 103, 130, 131, 195,
197, 198, 199, 200, 207, 249, 268.
Adelaide Island, 61, 128, 188, 189,
IgI, 255.
Land, 78; 75, 86, 87.
Adélie Land, 212, 215, 218, 244.
Admiralty Bay, 177, 180, 181, 183,
268.
Range, 95, 103, 198, 255.
Adventure Bay, 55, 145, 149.
Albert Mountains, Prince, 102, 201.
Alexander, Cape, 172, 174, 175, 176.
Land, 191-4; 3, 4, 53, 61, 81,
E20, 1325135) 186; 167,9186, Lor,
225.
Anne, Cape, 200, 225.
Annenkow Island, 144.
Antarctic (the word), 1.
Ocean, 2.
Arabs, 8.
Aristotle, 6, 7.
Ascension Island, 136.
Aspland Island, 156, 158.
Astrolabe Island, 179.
Aurora Australis, 104, 105, 245.
Isles, 58.
Austin Rocks, 171.

BaFFIn’s Bay, I.

Baie des Ravines, 78, 216, 217.

Balleny Islands, 208; 103, 104, 130,
£32.

Balleny, John, 65-7 ; 81, 93, 209, 218,
219.

Barbinais, Le Gentil de la, 29.

Barnard’s Peak, 160.

Bayley, Mr., 36.

Beaufort Island, 202 ; 197, 206.

Behaim, Martin, 9.

Bellingshausen, Capt. F. G. von, 49-
54; 65, 142, 143, 150, 151, 159,
160, 170, 188, 191, 192, 226.

Bennett, Cape, 155.

Berghaus, H., 47.

Berkeley Sound, r1o.

Bird, Cape, 202 ; 97, I01, 197.

Birds, Antarctic, 270-2.

Biscoe Islands, 61, 128, 129, 142, 188,
189.

Biscoe, John, 58-62 ; 65, 186, 187, 188,
18g, IQI, 225-6, 262.

Bismarck Straits, 118, 120, 172, 182,

184, 185, 188, 249.
Borchgrevingk, C. Egeberg, 129-31,
197, 199, 200, 207, 269, 280.

Borrodaile Island, 209.

Bougainville, 33.

Bounty Island, 60.

Bouvet Islands, 136-9; 2, 3, 62, 64,

LIA, 132, 135.

Bouvet, Lozier, 30-2 ; 136,137, 138.

Boyd Straits, 74, 156, 169.

Bransfield, Mount, 73, 176, 178.
Straits, 49, 57, 74, 120, 129,

7 LE, 172) LO5, 240.

Bransfield, Mr., 48.

Bridgeman Island, 72, 162-4.

Brisbane, Capt., 54.

Bristol Island, 58, 152.

Brouwer, 24.

Bruce, W. S., 124, 236, 239, 244, 258,

27s

Bore Island, 208, 209.

Budd’s Highland, 89, 212, 219.

Buller, Cape, 13, 144.

Burdwood Bank, 140, 141.

CaBRAL, Pedralvarez, Io.
Campbell Island, 65, 93, 130, 133.
Cananea, Bay of, 10, 11, 12.
Candlemas Islands, 50, 63, 150.
Cap de la Découverte, 216.
Carr, Cape, 4, 88, 212, 220.
Case Point, 215.
Castor Island, 187, Igo.
Charlotte, Cape, 13, 144.
Chatham Island, 60, 106.
Chimneys, the, 138.
Christensen Island, 189.
Volcano, 127, 187.
Christmas Harbour, 92.
Circoncision, Cape, 33, 44, 47, 138.
Clarence Island, 156; 48, 71, 72, 82,
Lily £25;

Land, 57.

(287)

288

Clarie Coast v. Céte Clairie.

Clerk’s Rocks, 149.

Climate of the Antarctic, 228-45.

Cliuver,) Zo

Cockburn, Cape, 186.

Island, 183-4; 112, 177, 268.

Columbus, Christopher, 14, 44.

Conception, Cape, 154.

Cook, Capt. James, 35-46; 8, 29, 53,

56, 92, 136, 142, 143, 144, 146,

147, 149, 151-2, 193, 194, 225.

John, 28.

Cook’s Glacier, 146.

Cooper Island, 143, 144.

Cordes, Simon de, 22.

Corinthian Bay, 121.

Cornwallis Island, 156, 157.

Coronation Island, 153, 154.

Corry, Cape, 178.

Céte Clairie, 79, 81, 88, 90, 212, 218,
255

Cotter, Cape, 195, 200.

Coulman Island, 96, 103, 130, 195,
200, 201, 206.

Cowley, Ambrose, 28.

Croll, Dr. James, 256, 260.

Crozet, 34.

Crozet Islands, 2, 35, 92, 133-

Crozier, Cape, 97, 98, 197, 203, 204.

Crozier, Capt. Francis, 92, 99.

Cumberland Bay, 144, 146.

DALLMANN Bay, 186.

Dallmann, Capt., 120; 118, 172, 184,
185, 186, 187, 188, gl.

Dalrymple, Alexander, 32.

Dampier, William, 28.

Danger Islets, 111, 173, 176:

Darwin, Charles, 147.

Darwin Islet, 111, 173.

Davis, Edward, 28.

Davis Land, 29.

De Bry, Theodore, 19, 20.

Deception Island, 164-9; 58, 74, 82,
117, 128, 135, 162, 171, 236.

De Gerlache, 123, 131, 280.

Diaz, Bartholomew, 9.

Diego Alvarez Island
Island.

“Dina, Island of,” 33.

Dirk Gerritz v. Gerritz.

Disappointment Bay, 86, 212, 215.

Donald, Dr. Chas. W., 124, 125, 174-6,

v. Gough

183.
“ Doubtful Island,” 102, 195, 197, 202.
Dougherty, Capt., 119.
Dougherty Island, 119, 132, 194.
Drake, Francis, 18, 19, 20.
Drake’s Strait, 4, 133, 135) 175, 241,
262.

INDEX.

Drygalski, E. von, 257, 278.

Duclesmeur, 34.

Dumont d’Urville, Capt. (Adm.), 69-
81; 57, 67, 152, 154, 158, 160,
163; 164, 160,471, 172, 279;) 200"
Zl 2USuZLO2AA

Dumoulin Isles, 74.

Dundas, Cape, 72, 153, 154-

Dundee Island, 124, 173,075,670;

178, 180, 255.

Whale Fishing Co., 123.

D’Urville, Mount, 73, 178.

D’Urville, Dumont, v. Dumont.

D’Urville’s Monument, 173.

EpEN Island, 173.
Eld, Mr., 213.
Eldis Peak, 2125 2135 21a 22.
Elephant Island, 156; 48, 71, 72, 82,
125, 126, 157.
Elliot, Mount, 198.
Emmon’s Point, 215.
Enderby & Co., 61, 64.
Enderby Land, 223-7; 4, 62, 90,
121, 132, 135, 249, 255, 262.
Eratosthenes, 7.
Erebus, Mount, 202-33; 97, 99, 101,
102, 104, 197, 204, 243, 263.
and Terror Bay, 178.
— Gulf, 112, 222°
Etna Islet, 111; 173, 176:
Evensen, Capt., 128-29 ; 125, 187, 188,
IgI.

PALKLAND Islands, 25 11,12, 1459275
56, 58, 61, 109, 110, 124, 127, 1285,
129, 139.

Fauna of Arctic Regions, 266-73.

Fernandez, Juan, 23, 42.

Field Straits, 159.

Finé, Oronce, 17.

“ Firn-snow,” “ Firn-ice,” 248.

Firth of Tay, 124, 173.

Fitzroy, Cape, 172, 173.

Fletcher, 18, 19.

Floeberg Beach, 234.

Flora of Arctic Regions, 266-73.

Florien, 132.

Forster, George, 36.

Jax; 30:

Foster, Cape, 177, 180.

Mount, 170.

Foster, Capt., 57-8; 68, 118, 165,

166, 169, 184, 185, 236.

| Fourneaux, 36, 54.

| Foyn Land, 127, 187.

Foyn, Svend, 129.

Framnees, Cape, 126, 127, 190.

Frances Island, 104.

INDEX.

Franklin Island, 202; 97, 197, 206,
207.

Freeman, H., 65.

Freeman, Mount, 209.

Freezeland Peak, 152.

Friedrichsen, 185.

Friesland Island, 58.

GAGE, Cape, 178, 180.

Gardafui, Cape, 7, 8.

Gauss, 75, 94, 105.

Gauss, Cape, 102, 196, 197, 202.

George, Cape, 144.

George IV. Sea, 3.

George’s Island, King, 81, 158, 159,
TOT, 163) 170.

‘Georgia, South, 141-9; 2, 3, II, 12,
13, 14, 27, 28, 32, 42, 45, 47, 50,
53, 54, 55, 62, 123, 132, 135, 236,
245, 246, 249, 250, 276.

Island of, 139-49; 1353
its Flora, 266; its Fauna, 270,
271-2.

Gerritz Archipelago, Dirk, 170-86 ;
3, 22, 23, 29, 47; 48, 57, 61, 125,
132, 133, 135, 140; its Climate,
240; its Fauna, 269.

Gibb Island, 156, 158.

Gibson Bay, 172, 173, 174.

Gonneville, B. P. de, 15, 29, 30.

Gordon, Cape, 178.

Gough Island, 136.

Graham’s Land, 186-91 ; 3, 4, 61, 81,
EES; 120; 132,435, 142, E73, ¥72;
184, 206, 259.

Gray, David and John, 123-5.

Green Island, 144.

Greenland, New South, 64.

Greenwich Island, 159, 160, 164.

Guyot, Ducloz, 32.

HappiIncTon, Mount, 112, 125, 177,
180, 181, 244, 255, 263.
Hann, Herr, 231-2, 238.
Hawkins, 20.
Hay, Capt., 30, 136.
Heard Island, 119-20; 2, I1g, 121,
133, 224.
Hermito Island, 110.
Herschell, Mount, 200.
' Hertha Island, 187, 1go.
Hilly Point, 12.
Hipparchus, 7.
Hoces, 18.
Homann, 29.
Hooker, 183.
Hoorn, Cape, 24, 25, 27, 28.
Hope Island, 73, 171.
Mount, 82.
Hopper, Thomas, 47.

289

Horn, Cape, 18.

Horsburgh, James, 47.

Hoseason Harbour, 185.

Island, 57, 185.

Hudson, Capt., 79, 81, 83, 85,
262.

Hughes Gulf, 171, 185.

Humboldt, Alex. von, 11, 13, 68,

Hylacomylus, ro.

Ice of Antarctic Regions, 246-65.
— Barrier, Great, 204-5; 5, 197,
207.
Iceberg Hill, 168.
Inaccessible Rocks, the, 155.
Island Bay, 144.
Isle de France, 34.

JACQUINOT, Capt., 69.

Jacquinot, Mount, 73, 171, 178.

Jason Island, 187, 1go.

Mountain, 126, 127, 190.

“Johnson, Capt.,” 64.

Lieut., 81, 166, 169.

Johnson’s Harbour v. South Bay.

Joinville Island, 172-3; 111, 112,

124, 128, 129, 171, 175, 178.
Land, 73, III, 412.

Jones, Cape, 200.

KaIseR Wilhelm’s Islands v. Wil-
helm’s.

Kay Islets, 195.

Keates, Capt., 119.

Kemp, Mr., 62, 223.

Kemp Land, 4, 62, 121, 132, 135, 223,
224.

Kendall, 165, 166, 185.

Kendall Rocks, 171.

Kerguelen-Tremarec,
34°55 2, 33, 45, 92.

Kerguelen Island, 35, 38, 62, 92, 121,
133, 182, 262.

Kilwa, 7.

King George’s Island v. George’s

Island.

Oscar If. Land», Osear IT.

Land.

Kinness, Cape, 172.

“ Klamms,” 147.

Klutschak, 146, 149.

Knox’s Highland, 89, 212, 219, 220.

Kuprianow, Cape, 144.

¥vesf.. de,

| LARSEN, Capt., 125-8; 129, 152, 160,
164, 172, 176, 181, 182, 184, 185,
187, 189, 190, 249, 263, 270.
Larsen Island, rgo.
Laurie, Mr., 73.
Laurie Island, 153, 154.

290

Lazarew, Capt.,

Le Maire, 23, 24

Le Maire Straits, 18, 24, 27.

Lewthwaite Straits, 153, 154.

Hermite; 25;

Lindenberg Cone, 127, 187, 189.

Lindsay, James, 47, 137, 138.

Little Haven, 146.

Liverpool Island, 64, 137, 138.

Livingston Island, 160, 164, 249.

Ljeskow Island, 150.

Loayasa, G. Jofre de, 18.

Lockyer, Cape, 177, 180.

Louis-Philippe Land, 176-9; 48, 49,
73> 74 81-2, III, 112, 113, 123,
I24 (127, 120m t 725 Tod. e2Aae its
Fauna, 270.

Low Island, 169, 171.

ee

McCormick, I81.

Macdonald Islands, 119.

MacFarlane Straits, 159.

MacMurdo Bay, 195, 197, 202, 207.

Macquarie Island, 85, 130, 133.

Madagascar, 8, g.

Magellan, 17, 18, 44.

Magellan, Straits of, 16, 18, 19, 20,
23, 24, 70,140, 161.

Marion du Frezne, 33.

Marion Islands, 2, 35, 45, 92, 133-

‘“¢ Marsween, Island of,” 33.

Mas’udi, 8.

Melbourne, Mount, 96, 102, 196, 201.

Mendana, 23.

Mercator, Gerhard, 17, 20, 23.

Middle Island, 162, 164.

Montague Island, 58, 152.

Monteagle, Mount, 195, 201.

Moody, Cape, 172, 173.

Moore, Lieut., 118-9; 136, 139.

Morrell, Mr., 62-4.

Mowbray Bay, 195.

Murdoch, Burn (artist), 124.

Murray, John, 224, 227, 277.

NANSEN, Dr., 125, 241, 252, 257, 280.
Nares, Sir George, 121-2, 221.
Narrow Island, 156, 158.
Nelson Island, 159.
Straits, 159.
Neumayer, Georg, 120-1 ;
279.
New Guinea, 23.
Noort, Olivier van, 22.
Nordenskiold, Baron, 277.
Norris, Capt., 64, 137, 138, 139.
North, Cape, 103, 194, 195, 198, 199,
263.
—Foreland, 158.

I1Q, 275-6,

INDEX.

North’s Highland, 88, 219.
Novoselskji Bay, 144.

O’Brien Island, 156, 158.

Oceana Association, 125.

Isles, 187, 190.

Orange Harbour, 82, 83, 84.

Orkney Islands, South, 152-5; 3, 48,
93) 54) 71; 72, 125, 132, 142, 249 ;
their Climate, 236; its Ice, 264.

Orleans Channel, 74, 177, 178, 184,
185.

Oscar II. Land, King, 126, 127, 187,
190, 263 ; its Fauna, 270.

PALMER, 48.

Palmer Land, 49, 54, 57, 61, 74, 81,
82, 117,118, 120, 4127, 1 72,anoe
185, 186, 188.

Parry, Mount, 186.

Mountains, 204; 98, 206.

Paulet Island, 173, 176.

Paumotu Islands, 51.

Peacock Bay, 85, 87, 214, 221, 222.

Pedersen, Capt., 125, 129.

Pendleton, 48.

Percy, Mount, 112, 172,)174) 175-

Periplus, the, 7.

Reschel Oz) 1359132"

Peter i Island, 3, 4,83, 132) Togy
193, 262.

Petermann, Dr., 132, 213.

Petersen, Dr., 180.

Philipps, Cape, 195, 201, 207.

Pickersgill Island, 144.

Piner’s Bay, 88, 216, 221.

Pinkney, Lieut., 85, 87.

Pisco, Mount, 170.

Pitt Island, 189, 191.

Point des Francais, 172, 173.

Pointe Géologie, 216, 221.

Polar Light, 245.

Porpoise Bay, 219.

Port Louis, r1o.

Possession Bay, 144, 146, 147.

Cape, 57, 185.
Island, 130, 131, 195, 197, 200,

206, 268.

Powell Islands, 153.

Powell, Mr., 48, 54, 152, 155, 160, 165,
170.

Precipitation, 241-5.

Prince Albert Mountains v. Albert.

Edward Marion

Island.

Prise de Possession, Isle de la, 34.

Ptolemy, 7, 8

Puerto Valdes, 54.

Purvis, Cape, 173.

Island v.

INDEX.

REA, Lieut., 62.

Reiter, Hans, 133, 139, 206-7.

Reptiles and Amphibia, 272.

Return, Cape, 154.

Reynold, Mr., 213.

Reynold’s Peak, 212, 213, 214.

Rhaptum, 7.

Riddley Isles, 81.

Ringgold, Lieut., go-1; 85, 213, 219,
220.

Ringgold’s Knoll, 210, 212, 213, 220,
22%.

Robert Island, 159.

Robertson Bay, 195.

Island, 127, 187, 189, 190.

Robertson, Capt., 124.

Robinson Crusoe’s Island, 23.

Roché, Antonio de la, 27.

Rochon, 34.

Roggers, Woodes, 29.

Roggeween, Jacob, 29.

Roosen Straits, 186.

Rosamel Island, 173.

Ross, James Clark, 92-117; 47, 64,
67, 69, 126, 136, 139, 145, 146,
172, 173, 174, 175, 178, 180, 181,
183, 184, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198,
200, 201, 202, 204, 207, 208, 200,
226, 235, 238, 239-40, 243, 244,
256, 263, 269.

Ross Sea, 5, 194, 207, 222, 238, 240,
243, 262, 263, 269, 273.

Row Island, 209.

Royal Bay, 123, 135, 144, 145, 146,

276-7.

Company Island, 75.
Society of London, 68.

Rugged Island, 160.

Russell Islands, 209, 210.

Peak, 104, 209.

SABINE, Edward, 57. 68.
Sabine, Mount, 95, 198, 199.
Sabrina Land, 81, 89, 219.
Saddle Island, 72, 154.

St. John, Cape of, 140.

St. Mary’s Bay, 144.

San Iago, Gulf of, 12.

San Pedro, Isla da, 32.

San Sebastiano, Gulf of, 18.
Sandwich Bay, 144.

Islands, South, 149-523 2, 3,
28, 58, 63, 132, 139, 141, 249.
Land, South, 44, 50, 54.

Sarmiento, 20.

Saunders, Cape, 144.
Island, 150, 151, 152.
Sawadowskji, 50.

Schoner, Johannes, 16, 17.
Schouten, 23.

29)

Sea-swallow, 51.

Seal Islands, 127, 187, 189.

Seals, Antarctic, 269-70, 273.

Seleucus, 7.

Seymour, Cape, 177.

Island; .18t-23 112, ; 125; 126,

177, 180.

Shag Rocks, 141.

Sharp, Bartholomew, 28.

Sheffield, Capt. James, 48.

Shelvoke, George, 29.

Sheriff, Capt., 48.

Shetland Islands, South, 155-62; 22
49, 53, 54, 56, 57, 61, 69, 73, 81,
117, 127, 128, 132, 133, 135, 142,
170; their Climate, 236; their
Ice, 246, 249, 250, 264; its Flora,
267-85: tsi Fauna, 270.5. its
Coal-beds, 273.

Sibbald, Cape, 195, 201.

Simon’s Bay, 114, 118.

Smiley, Capt. Wm. G., 117-8, 169,
236.

Smith, Leigh, 124.

William, 47-8; 22, 159, 161,

169-70.

Smith Inlet, 195.

Island, 57, 74, 104, 169.

Snow Island, 74, 113, 158, 160, 169, 177.

Land, 127, 177, 180, 181, 255.

Line, 248-9.

Snowhill, 112.

Sofala, 8.

South Bay, 160.

Cape, 143, 144.

East Cape, 144.

Foreland, Cape, 158, 163.

Sowadowskji Island, 149, 150, 152.

Sparrmann, 36.

Spence Harbour, 155.

Staaten Island, 18, 24, 140.

Steinen, v.d., 270.

Sterna (sea-swallow), 51.

Stewart Island, 130, 206.

Strabo, 7.

Sturge Island, 208.

Suess, E., 140, 147.

Sunda Isles, 8, 207.

Surville, 34.

Sydney Herbert Bay, 177.

Tasman, Abel, 24, 28, 37.

Tay, Firth of, 124.

Termination Land, go, 212, 220, 221.

Terre d’Espérance, 34.

Terror, Mount, 203-4; 97, 99, IOI.
103, 197; 255:

Thompson Island, 64, 138.

Thomson, Sir Wyville, 257.

| Thule, Southern, 43, 149, 152.

292

Thirach, Hans, 148.

Tierra del Fuego, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22,
24, 25, 56, 81, 123, 127, 129, 140,
2 ee aa

Torres Straits, 23.

Totten’s Highland, 89, 219.

Traversey Islands, 50, 63, 150.

Tres Puntas, Cape, 12.

Trinity Land, 184-5; 49, 57, 74, 81,
I2O0, 277 ks Lys

Tristan d’Acunha Island, 136.

Tucker Bay, 195, 200.

VANHOFFEN, E., 278.

Varnhagen, II.

Vasco da Gama, 9g.

Vera Cruz, Ilha da, 10, 14.

Vespucci, Amerigo, 10, II, 12, 13, 14,
EF, 142.

Victoria Land, 194-208; 5, IoI, 102,
103, I16, 131, 132, 133, 135, 193;
249, 255 ; its Climate, 234, 240.

Vogel Island, 144.

WAFER, Lionel, 28.

Wagner, Hermann, 5.

Wales, Mr., 36.

Walker, Lieut., 48, 81, 83-4, 192, 193,
262.

Warekauri Island v. Chatham Island.

‘Washington, Cape, 102, 196.

THE ABERDEEN

INDEX.

Washington Straits, 153, 154.

Webster, 165, 166, 168, 169, 185.

Weddell, James, 54-6; 3, 48, 61, 143,
149, 152, 153, 154, 160, 164, 170
220; 202, 270; 272%

Weddell Glacier, 146, 148.

Island, 154. |

“Weddell Sea,” 3, 243, 262.

Wetter Island, 127, 187, 190.

“ Wetterwand,” the, 145.

Weyprecht, Herr, 276.

Wheatstone, Cape, 200.

Wilhelm’s Islands, Kaiser, 120, 188
189.

Wilkes, Charles, 81-91; 62, 66, 70,
795 92, 163; 164, 210, 21759216;
218, 219, 220, 238, 243, 244.

Wilkes Land, 210-23; 4, 39, 79, 91,
121, 122, 132, 133, 135, 208, 244,
249, 255, 262; its Climate, 235-6,
238.

Will, Dr., 266.

Williams, Mount, 186.

Willis Island, 28, 143, 144, 145.

Wood Bay, 195.

Wysokji Island, 150.

Youna Island, 209.
Yule Bay, 195, 198.

ZANZIBAR, Q.

UNIVERSITY PRESS LIMITED.

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