Polar Exploration. William Speirs Bruce

mind, therefore, there can be no doubt that this type of coast is continuous along the Pacific coasts of Antarctica, and that the mountain system of Victoria Land and its islands links up with the mountain system of Graham Land, almost certainly excluding the possibility of a break to the east of Victoria Land by a channel across to the Weddell Sea. Neither Penck nor Darwin appears to have given sufficient consideration to the principles and characters of different coastal types in reaching the conclusions they have regarding a channel or deep inlet under the Ross Barrier across the Antarctic continent, slightly to the Pacific side of the South Pole. Evidence obtained from the distribution of ice, deep-sea deposits, and marine fauna all bears out this contention of a continuity of the land.

      This great mountain chain forms, in fact, the backbone of Antarctica, and probably more or less follows the sea coast between Victoria Land and Graham Land just as it does in those lands themselves.

      ​Very little is known of the continental coast-line to the south of the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, but there is every reason to believe that the coast-line in these parts will resemble in general character the coast-lines of the rest of the lands bordering on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans: that is to say, that the coasts will not be precipitous except at points where mountain ranges cut them at right angles to the coast, and, meeting the sea, form cliffs and capes. The general formation of these will probably prove to be of the plateau type truncated by the sea.

      The little we do know of the coast-line in this region certainly does not refute this opinion. The earliest discovery of continental coast-line in this region was by two American sealers, Captains Johnson and Morell in 1823, who reported a large tract of land to the south of the South Orkneys, which Johnson called New South Greenland. Biscoe in 1831 discovered a large tract of land from about 12° 22′ E. to Enderby Land, in about 52° E. The next important discoveries were those of Wilkes and D'Urville in 1840, to the south of the Indian Ocean—Adelie Land and Côte Clarie. The other land-falls of importance to the south of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans have not been until recent years, when von Drygalski discovered Wilhelm Land, which ​is evidently a south-western extension of Termination Land, and when Coats Land was discovered by the Scottish expedition. Considerable scepticism is shown, especially in England, regarding the reported land of Morell and Johnson; but not in Scotland, for the investigations of the Scotia undoubtedly tend to suggest the presence of New South Greenland, as do also the observations made on board the Erebus and Terror in 1843. There is little doubt that Graham Land is joined to Coats Land by New South Greenland, and that the Weddell Sea does not extend very far to the south in that region. Again, there appears to be little doubt that Coats Land is continuous with Enderby Land, and that the latter, through Kemp Land and Wilhelm Land, is continuous with Wilkes Land. Wilkes described high land, and so did Biscoe; and these capes may well be the termination of mountain ranges more or less at right angles to the coast; but, generally speaking, the coast of Antarctica does not appear to be lofty on the Atlantic and Indian Ocean sides. Coats Land, for instance, is entirely iceclad and slopes gently towards the sea, mostly terminating in an ice cliff possibly 100 feet high and at several points sloping right down to sea-level. Several of those on board the Scotia confidently affirmed that they could see ​mountain peaks in the distance, but there is considerable doubt if that was actually the case. (The Voyage of the Scotia, R. C. Mossman, J. H. H. Pirie, and R. N. Rudmose Brown: Edinburgh, 1906, p. 236.) If there were mountains they must have been at a great distance; all that I could see from the ship along the 150 miles of coast-line that we mapped was the iceclad land rising inland in undulating slopes to an unknown height.

      There are several other points to be considered, but what I wish to emphasise here is, that there is round about the South Pole a continent of enormous size, filling almost the whole region within the Antarctic Circle, and that it is probably one, and not two land masses. This continent has an area of about five and a half million square miles, an area equal to that of Europe and Australia combined. Outside this great continent, almost entirely iceclad, lies the Great Southern or Antarctic Ocean. In the far south of this there is relatively fine weather broken intermittently with terrific storms—blizzards from Antarctica. In the more northern parts of this ocean there is continual stormy weather from the west, which causes high seas to run, and earns for this part of our globe the name of the "roaring forties" and the "shrieking fifties." That part of the Great Southern Ocean which ​falls within the average limit of floating ice we will here consider as being within the Antarctic Regions.

      It is not proposed to discuss here the history of Antarctic exploration, which has recently been done so ably by Dr. H. R. Mill in The Siege of the South Pole, but I wish to give in more or less detail, as far as limited space will allow, an account of Antarctic seas and lands. This can perhaps best be done by dwelling more especially on those parts that I have seen myself, namely, Graham Land, South Shetlands, South Orkneys, Coats Land, and the Weddell and Biscoe Seas, and by giving a more general account of parts I have read of or heard of by conversation with other Antarctic explorers, including the veteran Sir Joseph Hooker who sailed with Sir James Clark Ross in 1839, and others who have visited the Antarctic Regions since.

      The striking incident of meeting ice at sea for the first time in one's life, and especially falling in with those giant Antarctic icebergs—grim sentinels of the Antarctic—produces even in most matter-of-fact individuals a sense of wonder and awe. Their stupendous size, their exquisite architectural composition, more magnificent than the temples and pyramids of Egypt, more overpowering in solemnity than the Sphinx—make the most thoughtless ​think for a moment of the Power that controls the forces of nature.

      During some years there are many more icebergs in the great Southern Ocean than during others, and the summer of 1892–93—that is to say, our northern winter, November till February—was such a year. On December 23rd and 24th, 1892, on board the Balæna, we fell in with a great host of bergs in the vicinity of the Danger Islets; they were all of great size, some being 3 or 4 miles long; at one time I counted as many as sixty from the deck, while more could be seen from the mast head. They were all of similar height, about 100 or 150 feet high. Each one was table-topped. At one time we passed through a regular street, lined on each side with towering bergs, each a temple in itself, now Doric, now Egyptian, each perfectly carved and shaped, each purer and whiter than the other, glittering in the sun, pearl grey in the shade and rich blue in the clefts and caves which pierced their sides. This street or avenue was several miles long, indeed some individual bergs were fully half-a-mile in length; side avenues opened into this main avenue. Sometimes we sailed into an open piazza, sometimes past the end of so narrow and winding a passage that it would have been dangerous even for one of our ship's boats to attempt to ​navigate it. Presently we came out of this closely packed group of bergs into the open sea, where there were still many bergs scattered from horizon to horizon. Besides bergs we now fell in with pack ice, amongst which were "bergy-bits," that is, small irregular bits that had become detached from the bergs. Here and there a seal lay on the pack, sleeping or gracefully lifting its head to look at our ships with its large dark eyes, little dreaming of the cruel fate that was to befall his companions a few days later. Fussy penguins, with their white breasts and black backs, jumped out of the water on to the pieces of pack ice, and by their rather harsh cry and quaint attitudes appeared to be entering a protest at being disturbed in this unseemly manner. There was almost a perfect calm, and despite a dense canopy of cloud overhead the horizon was clear and bright. At midnight on Christmas Eve, in latitude 64° 13′ S. a little to the east of Mount Haddington, we were stopped from pushing any farther to the south because of solid field ice that stretched across our bow. Afterwards the edge of this ice was examined and was found to stretch for about 250 miles north-eastward without a break through which any of the three Scottish whalers, that were there together at the time, could have passed. It is true that, with united attack, these stout ​ice-armoured ships could have penetrated some miles through this ice by charging and recharging, by sawing and blasting, and, if there had been a sign of open water at the back of the ice, it might have been worth doing this to see if the whale, reported by Ross in 1843 and described by him as greatly resembling the Bowhead Whale, was seeking safe retreat there. But all the evidence indicated that there was no water at the back and to the south of this ice, but that it continued in a more or less solid field till it came up against land, which was invisible from the ship's deck, except to the W. and S.W.,