ANTARCTIC VOYAGE OF THE BELGICA. 383 



net of Jin iiiimonso (^-hioicr which must have flowed through Belgica 

 Strait westward, i. e,, toward the racitic Ocean. Other proofs of the 

 former wide extent of the antarctic glaciers are furnished I)}" the erratics 

 collected in Hughes Gulf, at our third, tifth, and sixth landings, as also 

 by those found on Antwerp Island at the fourteenth landing place, 

 where a ))ank of rolled pebbles and ])locks extends for a certain distance 

 5i"om the shore. Further, in Errera Channel, a remarka])le moraine 

 runs transversely across. Lastly, we frequently saw perfectly polished 

 roches moutonnees, either along the shore line or on small islands. 



The discovery of the former greater extension of the antarctic gla- 

 ciers seems to me so important a fact to record, that I could not refrain 

 from entering into these details. The discovery is interesting from 

 various points of view. I will here merely call attention to a question 

 which seems to me closely bound up with it — I allude to the climate of 

 the Glacial epoch. In fact, this question aroused a keen interest in me 

 from the moment when I noticed the morphologic analogy which exists 

 between the southern extremity of South America and this northern 

 point of the antarctic continent, and which suggests the question, 

 whether the more thorough study of the climates of the two regions 

 and of the glaciers might not permit us to calculate the point to which 

 the mean temperature of the air must have fallen during the Glacial 

 epoch. 



This epoch has left its mark in both regions, and the aspect presented 

 by the antarctic lands in our day seems to afford an indication of the 

 condition of the channels of Tierra del Fuego during the Glacial epoch. 

 We are, therefore, justified in asking whether the existing climate of 

 the antarctic lands in 64:° may not be the same as that which prevailed 

 in latitude 54° during the ice age." 



I am confident that the investigations of the next antarctic expedi- 

 tions which ma}' visit the two regions will furnish us with the key to 

 the problem here indicated. 



The icebergs of the arctic regions are, in general, of ver}^ varied 

 form, and usually of small dimensions, although heights of 80 meters 

 (260 feet) are frequently measured, and it seems that as much as 110 

 meters (360 feet) above sea level ma}^ be attained.*" The tabular form 

 has rarely been recorded in the arctics, although the icebergs do show 

 it near the glaciers from which they are derived, if the slope of the 

 glacier is slight and the berg retains its original position of equilibrium 

 after detachment. 



The antarctic, on the other hand, is the region of immense tabular 

 icebergs. In the southern seas bergs several kilometers in length, 

 and rising to a height of 60 meters (200 feet), have been frequently 

 met with. 



* H. Arctowski, "A propos de la question du climat de I'epoque glaciaire." Ciel et 

 Terre, March, 1901. 



"E. V. Drygalski, Gronland Expedition, Vol. I, p. 381. 



