276 KEPOKT— 1891. 



Aveather, and the process of decay commences, when one- 

 side will gradually sink and expose the flat surface of the 

 top, like the sloping roof of a house, and then follows the 

 first capsize. When that event has once happened they no 

 longer have any characteristic shape, and the most fantastic 

 imagination could not devise any form they will not assume — 

 in some instances, perhaps, slender pinnacles, or enormous 

 arches through which the largest ships could be taken. 

 In point of fact, upon one occasion an arch was measured more 

 than 250ft. in the clear, and over 400ft. high ; and from a 

 spectacular point of view there are few objects in nature more 

 beautiful in the sunlight than a partially-worn iceberg, though 

 it is not, perhaps, appreciated so much when contemplated 

 tlirough tlie blackness of a dark night. 



It will be assumed, therefore, for the purposes of this paper,- 

 that the shape of Antarctic ice is direct evidence as to the time 

 it has been afloat ; for ice encountered in the lower latitudes 

 during the winter months has seldom the characteristics of 

 freshly-broken-away ice, and one particular instance will be 

 chosen to illustrate this : — 



As has been previously mentioned, this ice-bearing current 

 assumes its narrowest limits during the winter months. Last 

 April, position at noon of the observing shi]3 was lat. 55° S., 

 long. 110° W., the vessel steamiiig thirteen knots. Towards 

 10 p.m. the temperature of the sea-water fell somewhat 

 suddenly from 40° Fahr. to 34° Fahr., and small pieces or bergs 

 were seen. These gradually increased in size as the centre of 

 tlie current was neared, until they assumed the flat-topped 

 shape, showing that they had not been in low latitudes long 

 enough to have become dissolved, and later in the day again 

 began to get small, and without any particular shape, as the 

 further side of the current was reached, the water rising in 

 temperature at about the same rate at which it had fallen; 

 after wliich no more ice was seen. 



Now, the existence of Humboldt's current has long been a 

 well-ascertained fact, but Maury distinctly states that all infor- 

 mation as to the Antarctic currents of the South Pacific is 

 defective at best. These observations now under discussion go 

 a long way, however, to prove that this branch of the current 

 we are now discussing is not the principal one, but is the one 

 which forms a new Sargasso between the latitudes of 40° and 

 50° S., and longitudes 140° to 178° W. Mr. Maury also states 

 that this new Sargasso " is less abundantly supplied with drift- 

 matter, less distinct in outline, and less permanent in position 

 than any one of the others;" all of which statements are in 

 entire accordance with the theory of a portion of this branch 

 of Humboldt's current recurring to the uorth-westward, and 

 varying in force in the different seasons of the year. 



