MACROBERTSON LAND AND KEMP LAND 171 



NARRATIVE 



This was the extent of the knowledge of these regions when the ' William Scoresby ' 

 making passage from one whaling ground to another, sighted Cape Darnley, at 1345 hr. 

 on 24 February 1936. The MacKenzie Sea appeared to be open and free from pack ice, 

 the wind had been and was still from the south-east, so, with such promising conditions, 

 the ship turned southwards. Weather conditions, however, rapidly deteriorated, and 

 soon, with a full gale blowing, snow began to fall making progress very slow. The ship 

 stopped for the night at 2100 hr., the position then being 68° 45' S, 70 42' E, and 

 here, although the wind was still rising, the seas had decreased and it was presumed 

 that the ship had entered some shelter, probably afforded by the southern end of the 

 bight. With the air temperature down to 18 F a sounding, giving no bottom at 800 m., 

 and a series of hydrological observations down to 400 m. were made. During the night 

 the wind increased to force 10 (Beaufort scale) and drift was to the north-eastwards. 



The following morning, 25 February, brought much better conditions and the night's 

 leeway was partly made good by proceeding southwards, after which the course was 

 altered towards the east. A true ice barrier was sighted at 0605 hr. and was followed in 

 easterly directions until noon. It varied in height from 90 to 160 ft. and was found to 

 trend first north-eastwards, then east-south-eastwards and, when the ship turned away 

 to the westwards at noon, south-south-eastwards. At this point, 68° 33J' S, 73 76' E, 

 with good visibility, no land could be seen in any direction, and to the east of the ice 

 barrier, from 158 through east and north to 338 , was open water with a heavy swell 

 and rough sea from the south-east. The most northerly point of the barrier passed was 

 well south of Mawson's Cape Amery, and it would seem that this must lie further south 

 than he has placed it. On the other hand, the barrier as found was considerably further 

 north than that shown on the Norwegian chart, and occupied a mean position between 

 the two previous renderings of the east side of the MacKenzie Sea. Lars Christensen 

 (1938) visited this region again in the 7000 ton S.S. 'Thorshavn' during January 1937 

 and then found that "the barrier from Sandjefiord Bay northwards to Thorshavn Bay 

 should be placed 12 nautical miles farther north"; thus bringing the Norwegian 

 charting nearer to that of the 'William Scoresby'. That the final demarcation of the 

 boundaries of the MacKenzie Sea must await further investigation is obvious. It is 

 possible that Mawson's Cape Amery, which must have been part of a barrier, has become 

 detached and floated away as an iceberg since the flight made on 11 January 193 1. 

 It is also possible that the 'William Scoresby' steamed partly around one of the excep- 

 tionally large icebergs which are occasionally met with in these waters and not along 

 part of the fixed barrier, but under the conditions then prevailing the Munro Kerr 

 Mountains should have been seen if they are in Mawson's position. That these lie much 

 further south and are the same as the Sjovold Fjellene would seem to be established 

 by subsequent Norwegian work (Christensen, 1937). 



Having abandoned her eastward course the 'William Scoresby' steamed for Cape 

 Darnley and that evening (25 February) a station was made in 300 m. at the mouth of 



