2 
H. T. FERRAR. 
low rocky islets lying off the coast of Adelie Land, and these strongly suggested the 
existence of a continental mass of land. 
The fact that blocks of gneiss and granite, probably dropped from icebergs, were 
dredged up in high southern latitudes during the ‘ Challenger ’ expedition was also 
regarded as evidence of the existence of a continent. Fragments of mica-schists, sand- 
stones, limestones and shales, were also dredged up at the same time.* * * § This fact was 
sufficient to render it extremely probable that sooner or later fossiliferous sedimentary 
rocks would be discovered. 
In the year 1895 Mr. Borchgrevink obtained schistose and granitic rocks from 
Cape Adare. 
The ‘ Southern Cross ’ collection described by Dr. Prior f includes various 
plutonic and volcanic rocks as well as siliceous slates, the latter being apparently 
the first sedimentary rocks found in situ in South Victoria Land. The slates are 
noted as occurring at the head of Robertson Bay. These slates are directly coyered 
by the basalts of Cape Adare on the east, and they have been followed northward 
along the coast for some five miles. 
The islands may be conveniently considered in the order of increasing latitude, 
commencing with the Balleny group near the Antarctic circle. 
Balleny Islands. 
This group consists of five islands lying between longitudes 161° E. and 1G5° E., 
and latitudes 66° S. and G8° S., that is to say, about the Antarctic circle. They were 
discovered by Captain Balleny in 1839. He brought back specimens from Young 
Island, and reported the presence of an active volcano on Buckle Island, a report 
afterwards confirmed by the ‘ Southern Cross ’ Expedition. J 
Rowe Island, the most northerly of the group, was very distant from the 
‘ Discovery’s ’ track. Balleny remarks that it is low and offers no remarkable 
feature. 
Young Island, one of the largest, is roughly 10 miles long and 5 miles broad, and, 
according to Balleny, is the highest. It rises to an estimated height of 12,000 feet. It 
is girt by a high cliff and has the form of a terraced cone. The rock-specimens 
collected here in 1839 were the first obtained from what is now known as the Ross 
Quadrant. They “ prove to be scoriae and basalt with crystals of olivine.” § 
Borradaile Island is about 500 feet high and 2 miles long, and, like the others, is 
bounded by vertical cliffs. 
* See also 1 Nature,’ 1898, vol. lvii, p. 420. 
t Prior, Rep. ‘ Southern Cross ’ Collections (British Museum), 1902, p. 325. 
t ‘The Antarctic Manual ’ (Roy. Geogr. Soc.), 1901, pp. 499, 500. 
§ ‘The Antarctic Manual’ (Roy. Geogr. Soc.), 1901, p. 341. 
