474 Transactions. — Miscelkmeous. 



from the thawing of the undersnrface of the sheet. "Whether 

 suiiported chiefly by water or by laud, (and I think the former 

 supposition much the more probable,) we can hardly refuse to 

 believe that glaciers do impart motion, for if they had not the 

 power of making room for themselves on their descent, by 

 squeezing and pushing forward the mass of ice, their channels 

 would become blocked, every hollow would in time be filled, and 

 Parry Mountains, instead of appearing as a noble mountain 

 range, beautiful to the eye, would assume the uninteresting 

 aspect of a huge mound. Probably the ice-plain has attained 

 its maximum thickness under existing climatic conditions, and 

 perhaps an increased snowfall would only cause greater lateral 

 extension. 



Those who maintain that there has been a glacial period in 

 the Southern Hemisphere, may picture to themselves the great 

 ice-sheet spreading to these shores, or rather to these latitudes ; 

 for if ever there was such a period it must surely have been 

 while yet the shores of New Zealand lay beyond the Campbell 

 and Auckland Islands, else how could those solitary islands be 

 now clothed with a rich and varied flora ? 



Eoss afterwards made the barrier in longitude 160^ 27' W., 

 and latitude 78° 11' S. He found that its perpendicular clifl's 

 had dwindled down to less than half their height at the foot of 

 Mount Terror, or to about 100 feet. They were seen to diminish 

 gradually to about 80 feet at some 10 miles further to the east- 

 ward, but beyond that distance they again rose higher. This 

 fact of their rising again seems to me significant, pointing to a 

 connection with other land to the eastward, or to the north of 

 east, in which direction the face began to trend. 



The seas in tliis high latitude appear to swarm with animal 

 life : whales, seals, and huge penguins are seen in all directions. 

 On Possession Island the penguins actually disputed the rights 

 of the invaders, biting at the legs of the sailors. Innumerable 

 multitudes of those birds covered the ground, and crowded the 

 ledges of the rocks, tier above tier, to the very highest points of 

 the island. Some of the great penguins stood more than half 

 the height of a man, and one was shot that weighed 781bs. By 

 letting themselves down on their bellies they were able to scut- 

 tle along, outstripping a man on the snow. 



We can guess by the great beds of guano that generations 

 untold have held undisturbed possession there. Now, however, 

 a fearful danger threatens to thin their ranks in perhaps the 

 near future, for when steam whalers invade their seas, and a 

 ship runs short of coal for tlie return trip, a few tons of their oily 

 carcases would prove invaluable as fuel. Though the birds 

 themselves may have no commercial value, the large deposit of 

 guano may prove to be of superior quality. Certain bones of 

 other large birds from our southern islands have been exported 



