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point is of very limited extent. During the drift in the ice the | She was made entirely non-magnetic amidships, so that magnetic soundings were usually between 200 and 300 fathoms, which, observations might be carried on without interference

compared with the great depths to the north, clearly indicated a continental shelf of considerable breadth, probably connected with land in the south. The scientific collections were of unique value and have been worked up and the results published at the expense of the Belgian government.

The Hamburg America Company's steamer "Valdivia," chartered by the German Government for a scientific voyage "Valdivia,,,under the leadership of Professor Carl Chun of Leipzig, with Dr Gerhard Schott as oceanographer, left Cape Town on the 13th of November 1898, and on the 25th was fortunate in rediscovering Bouvet Island (54° 26′ S., 3° 24′ E.), which had been searched for in vain by Cook, Ross, Moore and many other sailors. Steering south, the "Valdivia," although an unprotected steel vessel, followed the edge of the pack from 8° E. to 58° E., reaching 64° 15′ S. in 54° 20′ E. on the 16th of December. At this point a depth of 2541 fathoms was found, so that if Enderby Land occupies its assigned position, 102 nautical miles farther south, the sub-oceanic slope must be of quite unusual steepness. The rocks dredged up contained specimens of gneiss, granite and schist, and one great block of red sandstone weighing 5 cwt. was secured, confirming the theory of the continental nature of the land to the south.

vink, 1898.

Scott,

from local attraction. The expedition sailed under Discovery." the command of Commander R. F. Scott, R.N., with Lieut. Albert Armitage, R.N.R., as second in command, Lieuts. Royds and Barne, R.N., Lieut. Shackleton, R.N.R., and Engineer-Lieut. Skelton, R.N. The crew of forty men were almost entirely sailors of the Royal Navy. The scientific staff included Dr Koettlitz, who had shared with Mr Armitage in the Jackson-Harmsworth arctic expedition; Mr Louis Bernacchi, who had wintered with Mr Borchgrevink at Cape Adare; Dr E. A. Wilson, Mr Hodgson, biologist, and Mr Ferrar, geologist. The "Discovery " sailed from New Zealand on the 24th of December 1901, met the pack ice on the Antarctic circle and was through into the open sea in 175° E. on the 8th of January 1902. She made a quick run to Cape Crozier and cruised along the great ice barrier, confirming | Borchgrevink's discovery that it lay 30 m. farther south than in 1842, and at the eastern end of the barrier Scott discovered and named King Edward Land where Ross had recorded an appearance" only. The sea in the neighbourhood had shoaled to less than 100 fathoms and the ice-barrier in places was so low that the "Discovery was able to lie alongside as at a quay. A captive balloon ascent was made from the barrier but nothing was seen to the south. Returning to McMurdo Bay the 'Discovery" found that Mts Erebus and Terror were on an island, the "bay" being really a sound. The ship was secured in winter quarters in 77° 49′ S. 166° E., and a hut erected on shore. From this base land-exploration in the Antarctic was initiated, and the history of exploration entered on a new phase. Although some symptoms of scurvy appeared during the winter they were checked by change of diet, and with the beginning of spring sledge journeys with dogs were commenced and a quantity of provisions was laid down in depots to assist the great journey which Scott had planned to the south. On the 2nd of November 1902 Captain Scott, with Lieut. E. H. Shackleton and Dr E. A. Wilson, set out with dog-sledges travelling south over the surface of the barrier in sight of a range of new mountains running parallel to their track on the west. The conditions of travelling were unlike those in the Arctic region, the weather being more inclement and the summer temperature much lower than in similar latitudes in the north. There were no bears to menace the safety of the travellers, and no wolves or foxes to plunder the depots; but on the other hand there was no game of any sort to be met with, and all food for men and dogs had to be carried on the sledges. The surface of the ice was often rough and much crevassed, especially near the western land, snow blizzards frequently occurred making travelling impossible and the heavy sledges had at first to be brought forward by relays, making it necessary to march three miles for every mile of southing made. The dogs also weakened and had to be killed one by one to feed the rest. On the 30th of December they were in 82° 17′ S. and Scott determined to try to reach the mountains to the west; but on approaching the land he found the ice so much crevassed and disturbed that the attempt had to be given up. Great peaks in 83° S. were named Mt Markham (15,100 ft.) and Mt Longstaff (9700 ft.) after the chief promoters of the expedition. The outward journey of 380 m. had taken 59 days, and was a splendid achievement, for the conditions to be encountered were totally unknown, and new methods had to be devised as the necessity arose, yet, no previous polar explorer had ever advanced so far beyond his predecessor as Scott did. The return journey In the autumn of 1901 three well-equipped expeditions left occupied 34 days and the ship was reached on the 3rd of February Europe for Antarctic exploration. The British National Ant- 1903, but Shackleton had broken down on the way and he had to arctic expedition was organized by a joint committee of the return by the relief ship " Morning" on the 3rd of March, Lieut. Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society, and equipped Mulock, R.N., taking his place on the " Discovery." During the under the superintendence of Sir Clements Markham. Most of absence of the commander in the great southern journey Armitthe cost was borne by the government, the rest mainly by Mr age and Skelton had found a way to ascend by a glacier in 78° S. L. W. Longstaff, who provided £30,000, the Royal Geographical to the summit of the vast snow-covered plateau beyond the Society, and Mr A. C. Harmsworth (afterwards Lord Northcliffe). granite summits of the western mountains. They reached a disA strong wooden ship of about 700 tons register (1700 tons distance of 130 m. from the ship and an elevation of 9000 ft. Many placement) was built at Dundee, and named the "Discovery." shorter journeys were made; Ferrar studied the geology of the

On his return to England in 1895 Mr Borchgrevink made strenuous efforts to organize an Antarctic expedition under his own leadership, and in August 1898 he left the Borchgre- Thames on the "Southern Cross," in charge of a private expedition equipped by Sir George Newnes. His scientific staff included Lieut. Colbeck, R.N.R.; Mr Louis Bernacchi, a trained magnetic observer, and Mr N. Hanson, biologist. About fifty dogs were taken out, the intention being to land at Cape Adare and advance towards the magnetic, and perhaps also towards the geographical pole by sledge. The "Southern Cross " sighted one of the Balleny Islands on the 14th of January 1899, and after in vain attempting to get south about the meridian of 164° E., the ship forced her way eastward and emerged from the pack (after having been beset for forty-eight days) in 70° S., 174° E. She reached Cape Adare, and anchored in Robertson Bay on the 17th of February. The land party, consisting of ten men, was established in a house built on the strip of beach at the base of the steep ascent to the mountains, and the ship left on the 2nd of March. Mr Borchgrevink found it impossible to make any land journey of importance and the party spent the first year ever passed by man on Antarctic land in making natural history collections and keeping up meteorological and magnetic observations. The" Southern Cross "returned to Cape Adare on the 28th of January 1900, and after taking the winter party on board-diminished by the death of Mr Hanson-set out for the south on the 2nd of February. Landings were made on several islands, on the mainland at the base of Mt Melbourne, and on the roth of February at the base of Mt Terror, near Cape Crozier. From this point the ship steamed eastward along the great ice-barrier to a point in 164° 10' W., where an inlet in the ice was found and the ship reached her highest latitude, 78° 34' S., on the 17th of February. The edge of the ice was found to be about 30 m. farther south than it had been when Ross visited it in 1842. Mr Borchgrevink was able to land on the ice with sledges and dogs, and advanced southward about 16 m., reaching 78° 50' S. He discovered that plant life existed in the shape of mosses and lichens in some of the rocky islands, a fact not previously known.

Bruce.

mountains and Hodgson was indefatigable in collecting marine | lost in the ice on her way to take them off, the party was fauna, while Bernacchi kept up the physical and meteorological rescued by a brilliant dash of the Argentine gunboat "Uruguay," observations. The second winter was lightened by the use of under Captain Irizar, before the relief ship sent from Sweden acetylene gas for the first time, and the dark months were passed arrived. in better spirits and better health than in the case of any previous polar wintering. In the spring of 1903-1904 Scott undertook a great journey on the western plateau, starting on the 26th of October without dogs. By the 30th of November he had reached a point on the featureless plateau of dead-level snow, 300 m. due west from the ship, the position being 77° 59′ S., 146° 33′ E. and 9000 ft. above sea-level. The ship was reached again on the 25th of December, and on the 5th of January the "Morning" arrived accompanied by a larger vessel, the “Terra Nova," sent out by the Admiralty with orders to Captain Scott to abandon the "Discovery" and return at once. Fortunately, although all the stores and collections had been transferred to the relief ships, the "Discovery" broke out of the ice on the 16th of February 1904 and Captain Scott had the satisfaction of bringing her home in perfect order. The relief ships bad provided so little coal that a most promising voyage to the westward of the Baileny Islands had to be abandoned in 155° E.; but it showed that the land charted by Wilkes east of that meridian did not exist in the latitude assigned.

Meanwhile Dr W. S. Bruce, largely aided financially by Mr James Coats and Captain Andrew Coats, equipped a Scottish expedition in the "Scotia," with Captain Thomas Robertson in command of the ship, and a scientific staff including Mr R. C. Mossman as meteorologist, Mr R. N. Rudmose Brown as naturalist, and Dr J. H. H. Pirie as geologist. The principal object of the expedition was the exploration of the Weddell Sea. The "Scotia" sighted the South Orkneys on the 3rd of February 1903, and after a short struggle with the pack she found an open sea to 70° 25' S., where she was beset on the 22nd in 18° W., and whence she returned by a more westerly course, recrossing the Antarctic Circle in 40° W. This important voyage midway between the tracks of Weddell and Ross, who alone of all who tried had reached 70° S. in this region, praccally demonstrated the navigability of Weddell Sea in favourable conditions, and the oceanographical observations made were the most valuable yet carried out in the Antarctic region. The following year, starting from the Sandwich group, Bruce crossed the Antarctic Circle about 22° W., and was able to make a straight run south to 74° 1' S., where the "Scotia was stopped by the ice in 159 fathoms of water, the sea having shoaled rapidly from a great depth. From the 3rd of March to the 13th the "Scotia " remained in shallow water, catching occasional glimpses of a great ice wall with snowcovered heights beyond it, along a line of 150 m., and dredging quantities of continental rocks. On this evidence the name Coats Land was given to the land within the barrier. The "Scotia " crossed the Antarctic Circle northward in 11° W., having in the two years explored a totally unknown sea for a distance of thirty degrees of longitude. A meteorological station was established by Mr Mossman on Laurie Island, in the South Orkneys (61° S.) in March 1903, and kept up by him for two years, when it was taken over by the Argentine govern

Simultaneously with the "Discovery" expedition and in full co-operation with it as regards simultaneous meteorological and Drygalski; magnetic observations, the German government "Gauss." equipped an expedition in the "Gauss" which was specially built for the occasion. The expedition was under the charge of Professor Erich von Drygalski and the scientific staff included Professor Vanhöffen as naturalist, Dr Emil Philippi as geologist and Dr Friedrich Bidlingmaier as meteorologist and magnetician. The ship was under the command of Captain Hans Ruser of the Hamburg-American line. A supplementary expedition set up a station for simultaneous observations on Kerguelen Land. The Gauss crossed the parallel of 60° S. in 92° E. early in February 1902 and got within 60 m. of the charted position of Wilkes's Termination Land, where a depth of 1730 fathoms was found with no sign of land. The pack made it necessary to turn south-westward and land was seen to the east-ment, and it now has the distinction of being the most ward on February 1902 on the Antarctic Circle in the direction of Termination Land. Soon afterwards the "Gauss" was beset and spent the winter in the ice. Land of considerable extent was seen to the south and was named Kaiser Wilhelm II, Land; the most conspicuous feature on it was a hill of bare black rock with an elevation of about 1000 ft., which was called the Gaussberg, and was situated in 67° S., 90° E. This was the only bare land seen, and its neighbourhood was thoroughly investigated by sledge parties, but no distant journey was undertaken. In February 1903 the "Gauss" was freed from the ice; but although Drygalski struggled for two months to thread the maze of floes to the eastward and south he could gain no higher latitude and was able to force his way only to 80° E. before seeking the open sea. The scientific observations and collections were most extensive and of great value.

jöld.

Two private expeditions organized by men of science were in the Antarctic region simultaneously with the British and Nordensk German national expeditions, and the synchronous meteorological and magnetic observations added to the value of the scientific results of all the parties. Dr. Otto Nordenskjöld, nephew of the discoverer of the North-East Passage, led a Swedish party in the Antarctic," with Captain C. A. Larsen in command of the ship, and reached the South Shetlands in January 1902, afterwards exploring on the east side of Joinville Island and Louis Philippe Land, and wintering on shore on Snow Hill Island in 64° 25′ S. From this point a long journey on ski over the flat sea ice bordering King Oscar Land was made to the south, but the Antarctic Circle was not reached. Meanwhile the " Antarctic" had succeeded in penetrating the pack in the Weddell Sea almost to the circle in 50° W., where D'Urville and Ross had failed to get so far south. A second winter was spent at the base on Snow Hill Island, and, the ship having been

southerly station at which continuous observations have ever been taken for over five years.

In January 1904 Dr Jean B. Charcot, a man of science and an accomplished yachtsman, left the Fuegian archipelago for the Antarctic in the 'Français," in command of a Charcot. French exploring expedition equipped at his own instance. He cruised through the islands of the Palmer Archipelago, and wintered in a cove of Wandel Island 65° 5' S. near the southern entrance of Gerlache Strait. On the 25th of December 1904 the "Français was free, and continued to cruise southward along the coast of Graham Land, to the south of which, on the 15th of January, when nearly in latitude 67°, a new coast appeared, mountainous and stretching to the south-west, but Charcot could not determine whether it was joined to Graham Land or to Alexander Land. While approaching the land the "Français" struck a rock, and was so much damaged that further exploration was impossible, and after naming the new discovery Loubet Land, the expedition returned. Charcot organized a second expedition in 1908 on board the Pourquoi Pas?" and, leaving Punta Arenas in December, returned to the Palmer Archipelago, and during January 1909 made a detailed examination of the coast to the southward, finding that Loubet Land was practically continuous on the north with Graham Land and on the south with Alexander Land, which was approached within a mile at one point. Adelaide Island, reported by Biscoe as 8 m. long, was found to be a large island 70 m. in length, consisting of a series of summits rising out of an icefield. The Biscoe Islands were found to be much more numerous than was formerly supposed. The expedition wintered at Petermann Island in 65° 10' S., and attempts were made to reach the interior of Graham Land, though with little success. After coaling from the whalers' dépôt at Deception

Island, the "Pourquoi Pas?" sailed on the 6th of January 1910 | to the south-west, and reached 70° S. on the 11th, whence views of Alexander Land were obtained from a new position, and a new land discovered farther to the south-west. The highest latitude reached was about 70° 30′ S., and Charcot was able to steam westward nearly along this parallel crossing the region of the "Belgica's" drift, passing close to Peter I. Island across the meridian of Cook's highest latitude, where the ice seemed to promise an easy way south if coal had permitted, and on to 128° W. through an absolutely unknown sea, from which point a direct course was made for Punta Arenas. Frequent soundings and dredgings were made, and Dr Charcot satisfied himself from all the appearances that along the 20 degrees of longitude west of Gerlache's farthest, and more than half-way from Graham Land to King Edward Land, land was probably not far distant to the south.

After his return invalided from the "Discovery," Lieut. Shackleton planned a fresh expedition, which he equipped at his own expense, aided by his personal friends, and Shackleton. he started in the small whaler "Nimrod" from Lyttelton, New Zealand, on the 1st of January 1908, being towed by a steamer to the Antarctic Circle, in order to save coal. The plan was to land a shore party on King Edward Land and return to take them off in the following year, but although a strenuous effort was made to reach the land the floe ice was too heavy, and it would have been madness to establish winter-quarters on the barrier, the coast-line of which had altered greatly since 1902, and was obviously liable to break off in great ice-islands. On the 26th of January the "Nimrod" began to return from the extreme east of the barrier, and the landing of stores commenced on the 3rd of February at Cape Royds, at the base of Mt Erebus, 20 m. north of the "Discovery's " winter-quarters. The shore party included the leader and fifteen companions, amongst them Professor T. W. Edgeworth David, of Sydney University; Lieut. Jameson Boyd Adams, R.N.R.; Sir Philip Brocklehurst, Bart.; Mr James Murray, biologist; Mr Raymond E. Priestley, geologist; Dr Alistair Forbes Mackay; Dr Eric Marshall; Mr Douglas Mawson, geologist; and Ernest Joyce and Frank Wild of the Royal Navy, who had taken part in the "Discovery" expedition. No casualty occurred during the whole duration of the expedition, special care having been taken to supply the best provisions, including fresh bread baked daily and dried milk in unlimited quantity, while abundant artificial light was secured by the use of acetylene gas. A motor-car was taken in the hope that it might be used on the barrier surface, but this was found impracticable, although it did good work in laying dépôts on the sea-ice. Another and more successful experiment in traction was the use of Manchurian ponies. Eight of these extraordinarily hardy creatures were taken south in the "Nimrod," but four died in the first month after landing. The others did good service. Nine dogs were also taken, but the experience on the "Discovery" expedition did not lead to much dependence being placed on them. The "Nimrod " left for the north on the 22nd of February and the scientific staff at once began the observations and collections which were kept up to the end. The discovery of a considerable fresh-water fauna and of a poor but characteristic flora was one of the most unexpected results. Apart from many minor excursions and surveys, the expedition | performed three journeys of the first importance, each of them surpassing any previous land work in the Antarctic regions. Before winter set in, Professor David, with five companions, made the ascent of Mt Erebus, starting from the winter quarters on the 5th of March, and gaining the summit at an altitude of 13,300 ft. on the 10th; this was found to be the edge of an active crater, the abyss within being 900 ft. deep, though rarely visible on account of the steam and vapours which rose in a huge cloud 1000 ft. above the summit.

The second achievement was the attainment of the South Magnetic Pole by Professor David, with Mr Douglas Mawson and Dr Mackay. They left winter-quarters on the 6th of October

1908, dragging two sledges over the sea-ice. Proceeding along the coast they were able to supplement their provisions and fuel by seal-meat and blubber, and on the 1st of December they reached the Drygalski ice barrier in 75° S., which proved very difficult to cross. Leaving this ice-tongue on the 19th, they proceeded to ascend the plateau with one sledge, and ran great risks from the crevasses into which they were constantly falling. On reaching the summit of the plateau travelling became easier, and on the 16th of January 1909 the magnetic dip was 90°, and the position of the magnetic pole was determined as 72° 25′ S., 155° 16′ E., at an altitude of 7260 ft. and 260 m. from the dépôt of provisions left at the Drygalski glacier. The return journey to this point was accomplished by forced marches on the 3rd of February, and next day the party was picked up by the " Nimrod," which was scouting for them along the coast.

The third and greatest achievement of this remarkable expedition was Shackleton's great southern journey. Dépôts had been laid out in advance on the barrier ice, and the main southern party, consisting of Messrs Shackleton, Adams, Marshall and Wild, started from winter-quarters on the 29th of October 1908, with the four ponies and four 11-ft. sledges; a supporting party of five men accompanied the main division for ten days. In order to avoid the disturbed and crevassed ice near the great south-running mountain range, Shackleton kept about 40 m. farther to the east than Scott had done. The ponies enabled rapid progress to be made, but after passing the 81st parallel on the 21st of November, one pony broke down and had to be shot, the meat being left in a dépôt for the return journey. In spite of cold weather and frequent high winds, progress was made at the rate of 15 m. per day, and on the 26th of November the farthest south of the "Discovery expedition was passed, and Mts Markham and Longstaff were full in view. New mountains continued to appear beyond these, and the range changed its southerly to a southeasterly trend, so that the path to the Pole led through the mountains. On the 28th a second pony became used up and was shot, and a dépôt was formed with provisions and stores for the return in 82° 38′ S., and progress was resumed with two sledges. The surface of the barrier ice formed great undulations of gentle slope. On the 1st of December a third pony had to be shot, in 83° 16′ S., and horseflesh became the principal article of diet; the remaining pony hauled one sledge, the four men took the other. On the 4th of December the party left the barrier, passing over a zone of much disturbed ice, and commenced the ascent of a great glacier (the Beardmore glacier) which descended from the mountains between magnificent granite cliffs 2000 ft. high. On the 7th, when toiling amongst a maze of crevasses on the glacier, 2000 ft. above sea-level, the last pony fell into a crevasse and was lost, though the loaded sledge was saved; the pony was to have been shot that night as it could not work on the disturbed ice; but its loss meant so much less food, and as far as can be judged this alone made it impossible for the party to reach the Pole. For the next few days of laborious advance one or other of the party was continually falling into a crevasse, but the sledge harness saved them, and no serious harm resulted. After climbing upwards for 100 m. on the glacier, a dépôt was made at a height of 6100 ft. of everything that could possibly be left behind, including all the warm clothing, for it was found possible with Jaegers and wind-proof Burberrys to meet any weather in which exertion was possible. By Christmas Day the plateau surface was fairly reached at a level of 9500 ft., in latitude 85° 55' S., and there was no more difficulty to overcome as regarded the ground, but merely the effort of going on over a nearly level surface with insufficient food in a very low temperature, intensified by frequent blizzards. Rations were reduced in the hope of being able to push on to the Pole, Three days later the last crevasse was passed and the surface, now 12,200 ft. above sea-level, grew smoother, allowing 15 m. a day to be done with fair weather. At 4 a.m. on the 9th of January 1909 the four explorers left their sledge and

racing, half walking, half running, they reached 88° 23' S. Geology. Definite information as to the geology of Antarctic in 162° E. at 9 a.m., the height above sea being 11,600 ft. | land is available from three areas-Graham Land and the The utmost had been done, though more food would have archipelago to the north of it, Kaiser Wilhelm Land and enabled the remaining 97 geographical miles to the South Pole Victoria Land. In the Graham Land region there seems to be a to be accomplished. The camp was reached again at 3 p.m. fundamental rock closely resembling the Archaean. Palaeozoic The return journey of over 700 m. to the ship was one long rocks have not been discovered so far in this region, although nightmare of toil and suffering, but the length of the marches a graptolite fossil, probably of Ordovician age, shows that was unsurpassed in polar travel. Once and again all food they occur in the South Orkneys. Mesozoic rocks have was exhausted the day before the dépôt, on which the only been found in various parts of the archipelago, a very rich hope of life depended, was picked up in the waste of snow. Jurassic fossil flora of ferns, conifers and cycads having been Snow-blindness and dysentery made life almost unendurable, studied by Nordenskjöld, some of the genera found being but, despite it all, the ship was reached on the 1st of March, represented also in the rocks of South America, South Africa, and the geological specimens from the southernmost moun- India and Australia. Cretaceous ammonites have also been tains, which prevented the sledges of the exhausted men being found, and Tertiary fossils, both of land and of marine forms, lightened as they went on, were safely secured. Never in bring the geological record down probably to Miocene times, the history of polar exploration had any traveller outdistanced the fauna including five genera of extinct penguins. Raised his predecessor by so vast a step towards either Pole. beaches show an emergence of the land in Quaternary times, During the return journey of the "Nimrod " Shackleton and there is evidence of a recent glacial period when the was able to do a little piece of exploration to the south of the inland ice on Graham Land was a thousand feet higher than Balleny Islands, tracing the coast of the mainland for 50 m. it is now. The most prominent features of the scenery are due to the south-west beyond Cape North, thus indicating that the to eruptive rocks, which have been identified as belonging to Antarctic continent has not a straight coast-line running the eruptive system of the Andes, suggesting a geologically from Cape Adare to Wilkes Land. The British government recent connection between South America and the Antarctic contributed £20,000 to the expenses of the expedition in lands. Volcanic activity is not yet extinct in the region. recognition of the great results obtained, and the king conferred a knighthood on the explorer, the first given for Antarctic exploration since the time of Sir James Clark Ross.

1911.

Captain R. F. Scott left England in the summer of 1910 with a new expedition in the "Terra Nova," promoted by his Expeditions own exertions, aided by a government grant, and of 1910- with a carefully selected crew and a highly competent scientific staff. He intended to arrange for two parties, one leaving King Edward Land, the other McMurdo Sound, to converge on the South Pole. A German expedition under Lieut. Wilhelm Filchner was announced to leave early in 1911 with the hope of exploring inland from a base in the western part of Weddell Sea, and Dr W. S. Bruce has announced for the same year an expedition to the eastern part of Weddell Sea mainly for oceanographical exploration. It appears that the greatest extension of knowledge would now be obtained by a resolute attempt to cruise round the south polar area from east to west in the highest latitude which can be reached. This has never been attempted, and a modern Biscoe with steam power could not fail to make important discoveries on a westward circumnavigation.

Physiography of Antarctic Region.-In contrast to the Arctic region, the Antarctic is essentially a land area. It is almost certain that the South Pole lies on a great plateau, part of a land that must be larger and loftier than Greenland, and may probably be as large as Australia. This land area may be composed of two main masses, or of one continent and a great archipelago, but it can no longer be doubted that the whole is of continental character as regards its rocks, and that it is permanently massed into one surface with ice and snow, which in some parts at least unites lands separated by hundreds of miles of sea. But all round the land-mass there is a ring of deep ocean cutting off the Antarctic region from all other land of the earth and setting it apart as a region by itself, more unlike the rest of the world than any continent or island. The expedition of the Scotia" showed the great depth of the Weddell Sea area, and the attention paid to soundings on other expeditions-notably that of the "Belgica "--has defined the beginning of a continental shelf which it cannot be doubted slopes up to land not yet sighted. In the Arctic region large areas within the Polar Circle belong to climatically temperate Europe, and to habitable lands of Asia and America; but in the Antarctic region extensive lands -Graham Land, Louis Philippe Land, Joinville Island and the Palmer archipelago outside the Polar Circle partake of the typically polar character of the higher latitudes, and even the islands on the warmer side of the sixtieth parallel are of a sub-Antarctic nature, akin rather to lands of the frigid than to those of the temperate zone. 1

As regards Kaiser Wilhelm Land, the Gaussberg is a volcanic cone mainly composed of leucite-basalt, but its slopes are strewn with erratics presumably transported from the south and these include gneiss, mica-schist and quartzite, apparently Archaean. Much more is known as to the geology of Victoria Land, and the results are well summarized by Professor David and Mr Priestley of Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition, whom we follow. From Cape North (71° S.) to 86° S. a grand mountain range runs south curving to south-eastward, where it vanishes into the unknown; it is built up of gneiss and granite, and of horizontal beds of sandstone and limestone capped with eruptive rock, the peaks rising to heights of 8000, 10,000 and even 15,000 feet, the total length of the range so far as known being at least roo miles. This range rises abruptly from the sea, or from the ice of the Great Barrier, and forms a slightly higher edge to a vast snow plateau which has been traversed for several hundred miles in various directions, and may for aught we know extend farther for a thousand miles or more. The accumulated snows of this plateau discharge by the hugest glaciers in the world down the valleys between the mountains. About 78° S. a group of volcanic islands, of which Ross Island, with the active Mt Erebus is the largest, rise from the sea in front of the range, and at the northern extremity the volcanic peaks of the Balleny Islands match them in height. The composition of the volcanic rocks is similar to that of the volcanic rocks of the southern part of New Zealand. The oldest rocks of Victoria Land are apparently banded gneiss and gneissic granite, which may be taken as Archaean. Older Palaeozoic rocks are represented by greenish grey slates from the sides of the Beardmore glacier and by radiolarian cherts; but the most widespread of the sedimentary rocks occurring in vast beds in the mountain faces is that named by Ferrar the Beacon sandstones, which in the far south Shackleton found to be banded with seams of shale and coal amongst which a fossil occurred which has been identified as coniferous wood and suggests that the place of the formation is Lower Carboniferous or perhaps Upper Devonian. No Mesozoic strata have been discovered, but deposits of peat derived from fungi and moss are now being accumulated in the fresh-water lakes of Ross Island, and raised beaches show a recent change of level. The coast-line appears to be of the Atlantic, not the Pacific type, and may owe its position and trend to a great fault, or series of faults, in the line of which the range of volcanoes, Mt Melbourne, Mt Erebus, and Mt Discovery, stand. Boulders of gneiss, quartzite and sandstone have been dredged at so many points between the Balleny Islands and the Weddell Sea that there can be no doubt of the existence of similar continental land along the whole of that side, at least within the Antarctic Circle.

Antarctic Ice-Conditions.-It is difficult to decide whether the ice of the polar regions should be dealt with as a geological formation or a meteorological phenomenon; but in the Antarctic the ice is so characteristic a feature that it may well be considered by itself. So far as can be judged, the total annual precipitation in the Antarctic region is very slight, probably not more than the equivalent of 10 in. of rain, and perhaps less. It was formerly supposed that the immense accumulation of snow near the South Pole produced an ice-cap several miles in thickness which, creeping outward all round, terminated in the sea in vast ice-cliffs, such as those of Ross's Great Barrier, whence the huge flat-topped ice-islands broke off and floated away. Evidence, both in the Graham Land and in the Victoria Land areas, points to a former much greater extent of the ice-cap. Thus Shackleton found that the summit of Mt Hope, in 83° 30′ S., which stands 2000 feet above the ice of the surrounding glaciers, was strewn with erratics which must have been transported by ice from the higher mountains to the south and west. In McMurdo Sound, as in Graham Land, evidence was found that the surface of the ice-sheet was once at least a thousand feet above its present level. These facts appear to indicate a period of greater snowfall in the geologically recent past-i.e. a period of more genial climate allowing the air to carry more water vapour to the southern mountains. Whatever may have been the case in the past the Antarctic glaciers are now greatly shrunken and many of them no longer reach the sea. Others project into the sea a tongue of hard ice, which in the case of the Drygalski glacier tongue is 30 m. long, and afloat probably for a considerable distance. Some of these glacier tongues of smaller size appear now to be cut off at their shoreward end from the parent glacier. At one time the Victoria Land glacier tongues may have been confluent, forming a great ice barrier along the coast similar to the small ice-barriers which clothe the lower slopes of some of the islands in Gerlache Strait. The Great Ice Barrier is in many ways different from these. Captain Scott showed that it was afloat for at least 400 m. of its extent from west to east. Sir Ernest Shackleton followed it for 400 m. from north to south, finding its surface in part thrown into long gentle undulations, but with no evidence of the surface being otherwise than level on the average. The all-butforgotten experiments and cogitations of Biscoe convinced that shrewd observer that all Antarctic icebergs were sea-ice thickened with snow "accumulated with time." The recent expeditions seem to confirm this view to a great extent in the case of the Barrier, which, so far as the scientific men on the "Nimrod " could see, was formed everywhere of compressed nevé, not of true glacier ice. Instances have been seen of tabular bergs floating with half their bulk above water, showing that they

are of very much less density than solid ice. The thrust of the glaciers which descend from the western mountains upon the Barrier throws it into sharp crevassed folds near the point of contact, the disturbance extending 20 m. from the tip of the Beardmore glacier, and the seaward creep of the whole surface of the Barrier is possibly due to this impulse; the rate of movement at the eastern side of the Barrier was found to be at the rate of 500 yds. per annum for the seven years between Scott's and Shackleton's expeditions.

Pack ice composed of broken-up sea-ice and fragments of icebergs appears to form a floating breakwater round the Antarctic area. It is penetrated by powerful steamers with ease or with difficulty according to the action of the wind which loosens the pack when it drives it towards the open sea, and closes it up when it drives it against a coast or a barrier of fast ice. At every point but one around the circumpolar area the pack, be it light or dense, appears to extend up to the southern permanent ice or land, though, as in the Weddell Sea, the pack seems at times to be driven bodily away. The exceptional region is the opening of the Ross Sea east of Cape Adare, where a comparatively narrow band of pack ice has always been penetrated by the resolute advance even of sailing ships and led to an extensive open sea to the south. No doubt the set of the ocean currents accounts for this, but how they act is still obscure, The great flat-topped ice-islands which in some years drift out from the Antarctic area in great numbers are usually met with in all parts of the Southern Ocean south of 50° S., and worndown icebergs have been sighted in the Atlantic even as far north as 26° 30' S. The greater frequency of icebergs in the Southern Ocean in some years is attributed to earthquakes in the Antarctic breaking off masses of the floating edge of the Barrier.

Antarctic Climate.-Although a vast mass of observations has recently been accumulated, it is not yet possible to treat of the climate of the South Polar region in the same broad way as in the case of the North Polar region. The following table shows the mean temperatures of each month and of the year at all the stations at which the Antarctic winter has been passed. The result is to show that while the winter is on the whole less severe at high latitudes than at equal latitudes in the north, the summer is very much colder, and has little relation to latitude. Even in the South Orkneys, in latitude 60°, in the three warmest months the air scarcely rises above the freezing point as an average, while in Shetland (60° N.) the temperature of the three summer months averages 54° F. But on the other hand, the warmest month of the year even in 77° S. has had a mean temperature as high as 30°. A study of the figures quoted in the accompanying table shows that until longer records S. Orkneys

Discovery

Cape Royds 77° 51' S. 77° 32' S. 1903. 1904. 1908. 1909. +26.1 +22.5

(+25·9) (+15°9) +11·2 (+215)

Wandel Island 65° S.

Cape Adare 71° S.

+298 +302 (+26'4)

+330