126 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Jan. 



three of the sailors ; and though the next curling wave swept 

 over these devoted people, the boat luckily met it stern on and 

 was poled out to sea as it receded. It was not a time when 

 one would willingly take a bath, and our wet companions were 

 glad to seize the oars and pull as hard as they could towards 

 the ship ; but by this time Mr. Armitage, in swinging the ship, 

 had been carried some way to the west, so that when we got 

 on board, teeth were chattering and hot cocoa or grog was felt 

 to be very desirable. 



From Cape Crozier the land turns sharply to the south in a 

 magnificent black volcanic cliff in parts 700 or 800 feet sheer 

 above the sea. The barrier edge extends at right angles from 

 the southern end of the cliff, and at first has a very rugged 

 appearance where the ice-mass presses past the land, but within 

 a few miles it settles down into its uniform wall-like aspect. 



Early on the 23rd we started to steam along this long ice- 

 face, hoping that fortune would favour us in discovering more 

 facts concerning it, and especially in finding out what lay at its 

 eastern extremity. In order that nothing important should be 

 missed, it was arranged that the ship should continue to skirt 

 close to the ice-cliff; that the officers of the watch should 

 repeatedly observe and record its height, and that thrice in the 

 twenty-four hours the ship should be stopped and a sounding 

 taken. In this manner, during the following days, we were 

 able to make a comparatively accurate survey of this 

 northern limit of the barrier, and the result is indicated on the 

 chart. 



On the morning of the 23rd we found that the barrier edge 

 did not exceed sixty or seventy feet in height, and though the 

 weather was slightly overcast we could see for a long distance 

 over the ice to the S.W. from our crow's-nest. It was on 

 looking in this direction, but from a greater distance, that Ross 

 thought he distinctly saw a high range of mountains running to 

 the south from Mount Terror. He described them as ' prob- 

 ably higher than anything we have yet seen,' and named 

 them the Parry Mountains. It will be remembered that when 

 in McMurdo Sound I had some doubt as to these mountains. 



