I.] GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 337 



journey through the mountains proved the existence of plateau 

 features as well as horizontal structure, and among the specimens 

 he brought back were a quartz grit and an arkose. Therefore 

 there was a very great possibility of fossiliferous sandstones, shales, 

 or even limestones being developed locally. He reported the 

 sandstone to reach a height of 8,000 feet, and to be accessible at 

 a spot eighty miles inland and at the very edge of the inland ice. 



Captain Scott therefore arranged that I should accompany him 

 to the edge of the inland ice, and should do as much geological 

 work as was possible on the return journey. At the second 

 attempt to gain the inland ice, the parties were confined to their 

 tents for a period of six and a half days. At the end of this time, 

 November 11, 1903, I found I had a month in which to examine 

 600 square miles of new country and get back to the ship by 

 December 12. 



Accordingly, as soon as the gale abated, I made straight for 

 Depot Nunatak. Utilising the outward journey as a reconnais- 

 sance, I knew that here the capping dolerite would be encountered, 

 and possibly the very top of the Beacon Sandstone. The latter 

 was not exposed, but in the moraine at the base of the nunatak I 

 found abundant masses of sandstone, the majority of which were 

 locally blackened by what I took to be graphite. 



My companions, Kennar (P.O.) and Weller (A.B.), had mean- 

 while spread out our gear in order to get rid of the moisture that 

 had accumulated in it during the lie-up, and that night hopes ran 

 high as, under the shelter of the nunatak, we exchanged ?ninus 

 temperatures and driving snow for bright sunshine and not more 

 than thirty degrees of frost, and we all looked forward to finding 

 something new. The next day, therefore, saw the camp at a spot 

 about ten miles south-west of Finger Mountain, where 300 feet or 

 so of the sandstone could be seen cropping out below the 500 feet 

 of overlying dolerite. Imagine my delight when, taking bag and 

 hammer up to the rock face, I discovered thin, irregular, black 

 seams running through an almost pure sandstone. The seams 

 here were in close proximity to the dolerite, and were therefore 

 much charred ; so, after collecting the best specimens, a move was 

 made diagonally down the valley to the Inland Forts, where 2,000 

 feet of sandstone was exposed. Here I hoped to find better 

 specimens on the base of the sandstone or the surface on which it 

 rested, but, after carefully examining 1,500 feet, no better speci- 

 mens were obtained, nor was the old floor to be seen. 



VOL. II. z 



