AMONGST THE SOUTHERN ICE. 230 



We saw several with the parts which had been below water 

 partially exposed by tilting. The surfaces of these were always 

 polished and smooth. We saw no berg tilt or turn over during 

 our voyage. One we saw was divided into three separate 

 columnar masses as far as the part above water was concerned. 

 No connection of the columns was visible. 



The platforms under water at the bases of the bergs often 

 run out into spurs and irregular projections, and these may be 

 dangerous to ships going too near. Soundings were taken on 

 one of these platforms and gave seven fathoms at some distance 

 from the berg and three and a half nearer in. 



Nearly all the flat-topped bergs showed numerous crevasses 

 in their cliffs near their summits, and these were always widest 

 towards the summits, and were irregularly perpendicular in 

 general direction. 



The flat tops of the bergs had usually rather uneven surfaces, 

 being covered with small hillocks, apparently formed by drifting 

 of snow, or showing irregularities where they covered over the 

 mouths of crevasses. The surfaces in fact, looked just like 

 those of the " firn ' : or " neve," the cracked snow-fields at the 

 heads of European glaciers, and appeared as if they would be 

 equally dangerous to traverse, except with a party roped together. 

 The second stories of bergs were always covered with snow, 

 which had fallen on them after their emergence. 



The stratified structure of the bergs is best seen in the case 

 of flat-topped rectangular bergs, where an opportunity is afforded 

 of examining at a corner two vertical cliff faces meeting one 

 another at a right angle; we had several such opportunities. 

 The entire mass shows a w T ell-marked stratification, beino- com- 



BECTANGDLAR BERG. 



Viewed at one of its corners. 



posed of alternate layers of white opaque-looking, and blue, 

 more compact and transparent ice. Staff-Surgeon E. L. Moss, 



