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THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



X.— ROCKS OF HEARD ISLAND. 



After completing the exploration of Kerguelen's Land, the Challenger Expedition 

 turned to M c Donald and Heard Islands. The sea-bottom between these groups is very- 

 irregular and rocky. On the way to Heard Island the Challenger, on February 5, 1873, 

 passed to the north of the almost inaccessible islands of M c Donald. A landing was 

 made on Heard Island, and Mr. Buchanan examined the coast and the rocks descending 

 to the sea. This island, remarkable for its glacial and volcanic phenomena, was 

 discovered in November 1855 by Captain Heard, in command of the United States 

 ship-" Oriental." According to the Challenger observations, Cape Laurens, the north- 

 west point of the island, is situated in latitude 53° 2' 45" S., longitude 73° 15' 30" E. 



Glacier, Corinthian Bay, Heard Island, as seen from H.M.S. Challenger. 



The greatest length from north-west to south-east is 25 miles, its greatest breadth 

 9 miles, and its area about 100 square miles. The southern extremity, rising towards 

 the east, forms a long and narrow promontory. The naturalists from the Challenger 

 landed at the north of the island, in a bay designated on the chart as Whisky or 

 Corinthian Bay. On approaching the place to the south-east of the ship the island was 

 surrounded by great glaciers coming down close to the shore ; the interior was veiled 

 in clouds, entirely concealing the great mountain of Ben Big, about 7000 feet high, 

 which crowns the island. The shore of Corinthian Bay is flat, and is covered with black 

 volcanic sand, largely composed of magnetite ; this sandy strip stretches for about half 

 a mile from the sea to the head of the glaciers. The western side of the bay is formed 

 of a continuous wall of magnificent glaciers. The island here is not wide, and a sandy 

 plain extends across it from east to west. The volcanic sand, blown against the rocks 

 by constant strong winds, gives rise by its mechanical action to remarkable phenomena 

 of disintegration. Mr. Buchanan observed that the fragments of isolated rock, and 



