362 T]IE RENEWAL OF ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION, 



great lowhuul i)laiiis stretching' toward the otiier ocean basins. In 

 order to acccumt for the distribution of terrestrial organisms in the 

 Southern Hemisphere, some naturalists believe that there must have 

 been in recent geological times a great extension of Atitarctica towards 

 tlie tro])ics. However this nniy be, ail will agree that a very necessary 

 preliminary to any profitable discussion of so difficult a subject must 

 be a fuller knowledge of the present conditions that ])revail through- 

 out the Southern Hemisphere, such as a new expedition alone can be 

 expected to supply. 



All observeivs agree in representing the great Antarctic land mnss to 

 be buried beneath a heavy capping of perpetual ice and snow. The 

 nucleus of rock is only revealed in off-lying islands, or on the face of 

 high and bold escarpments. The outlines and larger features of the 

 mountain ranges are not obliterated in the highland near the coasts at 

 all events, for peak after peak with varied contours are seen to rise, one 

 behind the otiier, towards the interior. 



The snow and ice which descend from the steep seaward face of the 

 Admiralty and Prince Albert ranges of ^'ictoria Land, while filling up 

 the valleys and bays, do not present an inaccessible face of ice at all 

 parts of the coast, although this is often stated to be the case. Koss 

 himself says: "Had it been possible to have found a i)lace of security 

 (for the ships) ui)on any part of this coast, where we might have 

 wintered in sight of the brilliant burning mountain, and so short a 

 distance from the magnetic pole, both of these interesting spots might 

 easily have been reached by travelling parties in the following spring." 

 McCormick, a member of Ross's expedition, recommends Macmurdo 

 Bay, at the toot of Mount Erebus, as a place where winter quarters 

 might be fonnd.and hints that there would be no difficulty in ascending 

 ami tiavelling over the land. 



The ice and snow however which form on the slopes of the mountain 

 ranges tiicingthe interior of Victoria Land descend to the lower reaches 

 of the continent, wiiere they accumulate in vast undulating fields and 

 plains, humbeds of feet in thickness, and ultimately this great glacier 

 or ice cap is pushed out over all the lowlands into the ocean, forming 

 there the true ice barrier, a solid })erpendi('ular wall of ice, probably 

 from 1,'J()(> to 1,500 feet in thickness, rising from l^A) to 200 feet above, 

 and sinking 1,100 to 1,400 feet below the level of the sea. When the 

 forefronts of this great cieeping glacier are pushed into depths of about 

 300 or 400 fathoms, large stretches are broken off and fioataway as the 

 oft-described, i)erpendicular-faced, horizontally-stratified, table-topped 

 icebergs of the Antarctic and Southern oceans, which may be miles in 

 length/ and usnally fioat from 150 to UOO feet in height above the sea 

 surface.* 



* A floating iceberg will have 89*6 per ccMit of its vohuiie imuiersecT if it liavc tlio 

 same temperature and coiisisteucy throughout. Tlic up])er layers of these ice isl.nuls 

 are however much less dense than tlic deep-blue lower layers, and therefore it is 



