I902] GOOD VIEW OF KING EDWARD'S LAND 141 



It now became a question what to do. Should we remain 

 here and wait for the pack to open ? There was still a chance 

 that we might be able to push farther to the eastward with 

 patience. But then what of the coast of Victoria Land and 

 what of our coal supply ? With young ice forming so rapidly 

 here, it well might be that in a fortnight the harbours to the 

 west would be closed and we could ill afford the loss of coal 

 that waiting here would entail. 



I decided to return, but it is natural enough that sometimes 

 vague regrets should arise that we did not attempt to push 

 farther to the east. That we need not have feared the closing 

 of the season is obvious, but that we should have been hard 

 put to it for coal at a later date is equally certain. One can 

 never do quite what one would wish in these matters. In the 

 afternoon the wind came from the east and rapidly cleared the 

 sky as we steered back on the course by which we had come, 

 and, with wind and current fair, so rapidly cleared the ground 

 that by night we were again abreast of the icy plateau beyond 

 which we had first seen the exposed rock of King Edward's 

 Land. 



We could now see the coastline clearly for many miles. 

 On the left was the low barrier formation of which I have 

 already spoken, and which I now note as * ten to twelve feet 

 high and sloping up for a short distance, when it runs horizon- 

 tally for ten or eleven miles to the base of a range of well- 

 defined hills.' To the right and left of two groups of hills 

 which lay opposite to us, a thin stratus cloud partially hid the 

 outline of continuously high snow-covered ridges, and the 

 same thin veil hung in the broad valley between the groups ; 

 but the sharp peaks of the groups were clearly outlined against 

 the sky, and with a sextant and the distance given by four- 

 point bearing, we were able to calculate the altitude as between 

 2,000 and 3,000 feet. 



The outline suggested a volcanic country, but although 

 many of the slopes were steep, the bare rock appeared only in 

 a very few places ; and where some lofty spur was flanked by a 

 sheer precipice, the more gradual slopes at the base of the hills 



