42 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Dec. 



morning, and at first it seemed to show us to be in a very 

 satisfactory condition of health, but to-night Wilson told me 

 that Shackleton has decidedly angry-looking gums, and that 

 for some time they have been slowly but surely getting worse. 

 He says there is nothing yet to be alarmed at, but he now 

 thought it serious enough to tell me in view of our future plans. 

 We have decided not to tell Shackleton for the present ; it is a 

 matter which must be thought out. Certainly this is a black 

 night, but things must look blacker yet before we decide to 

 turn.' 



^ Dece7?iber 22. — . . . This morning we had bright sun- 

 shine and a clear view of the land ; the coastline has receded 

 some way back in a deep bay, beyond which the land rises to 

 the magnificent mountain ranges which evidently form the 

 backbone of the whole continent. There are no longer high 

 snow-covered foothills to intercept our view of the loftier back- 

 ground ; it is as though at this portion of the coast they had 

 been wiped out as a feature of the country, though farther to 

 the south where the coastline again advances they seem to 

 recur. 



* But just here we get an excellent view of the clean-cut 

 mountain range. Abreast of us is the most splendid specimen 

 of a pyramidal mountain ; it raises a sharp apex to a height of 

 nine thousand feet or more, and its precisely carved facets 

 seem to rest on a base of more irregular country, fully four 

 thousand feet below. With its extraordinary uniformity and 

 great altitude it is a wonderfully good landmark. Close to the 

 south of this is an equally lofty table mountain, the top of 

 which is perfectly flat though dipping slightly towards the 

 north ; this tabular structure is carried on, less perfectly, in 

 other lofty mountain regions to the south ; we have not seen it 

 so well marked on any part of the coast since the land we 

 discovered south of Cape Washington, which seems to indicate 

 some geological alliance with that part. We can now see also 

 the high land that lies beyond the foothills we have lately been 

 skirting ; it is more irregular in outline, with high snow-ridges 

 between the sharper peaks. To the south one particular 



