THROUGH THE PACK 287 



ice after a passage of exactly four days; we had been 

 extremely lucky, and the Fram went very easily 

 through the ice. 



After coming out of the pack, our course was con- 

 tinued through the open Ross Sea to the Bay of 

 Whales, which from the previous description was to 

 be found in about long. 164° W. On the after- 

 noon of the 11th we had strong ice-bhnk ahead, by 

 which is meant the luminous stripe that is seen above 

 a considerable accumulation of ice; the nearest thing 

 one can compare it to is the glare that is always seen 

 over a great city on approaching it at night. We knew 

 at once that this was the glare of the mighty Ross 

 Barrier, named after Sir James Clark Ross, who first 

 saw it in 1841. The Barrier is a wall of ice, several 

 hundred miles long, and about 100 feet high, which 

 forms the southern boundary of Ross Sea. We were, 

 of course, very intent upon seeing what it looked like, 

 but to me it did not appear so imposing as I had 

 imagined it. Possibly this was because I had become 

 familiar with it, in a way, from the many descriptions 

 of it. From these descriptions we had expected to find 

 a comparatively narrow opening into Balloon Bight, as 

 shown in the photographs we had before us; but as 

 we went along the Barrier, on the 12th, we could find 

 no opening. In long. 164° W., on the other hand, 

 there was a great break in the wall, forming a cape 

 (West Cape) ; from here to the other side of the Barrier 



