January 5, 1922] 



NATURE 



season also made it advisable immediately to attack 

 the hitherto unclimbed Beerenberg. To make the 

 ascent direct from sea-level seemed hardly practic- 

 able, and an advance camp was, therefore, estab- 

 lished at 2700 ft. on the highest of the 

 frontal moraines. Unfortunately, Brown was not 

 well enough to go farther, and the size of the party 

 was thus reduced to three. Starting on August 11 

 about II a.m., for there had been some rain during 

 the night, we trudged, for some hours up a gently 

 sloping and but little-crevassed ice-slope to a nuna- 

 t?ik at a height of 5600 ft. The real climb now 

 began. Mercanton went first, Lethbridge second, 

 yrith myself as last man. Two thousand feet of 

 Viteresting snow- and ice-work brought us finally to 

 the bergschrund not far below the ridge, and after 

 a little delay it was safely negotiated. A stiff climb 

 up a steep snow-wall then brought us to the ridge, 

 and we suddenly found ourselves standing on the 

 rim of a great crater. This was an unexpected and 

 exciting development. The crater was about half-a- 

 mile in diameter, and from 500 to 800 ft. deep. At 

 its northern edge one of the later eruptions had burst 

 the rim and formed a gateway of which the highest 

 part of the mountain is now the western pillar. 

 Since that distant period, however, the crater has 

 l)ecome filled with ice, and a much-crevassed glacier 

 now Ijreaks away to the north in a series of striking 

 icefalls, finally reaching the sea (so Mercanton after- 

 wards informed me) as the Weyprecht Glacier. To 

 complete the ascent by following a snow-arete to the 

 actual summit was not long of accomplishment, and 

 gave us a further opportunity of appreciating Mer- 

 canton 's- mountaineering skill. That the summit, 

 deep-covered in rime as it is, has solid rock not far 

 l^elow is certain; scoriaceous lava was collected 

 50 ft. away. Observations on the summit occupied 

 some time, and, fortunately, there were bursts of 

 sunshine sufficient to enable photographs to be taken. 

 It was almost 9 p.m., therefore, before we com- 

 menced the return, but a brisk pace was kept up, 

 and a distance which had taken eight hours on the 

 ascent was now covered in three. 



Apart from the geological observations, which 

 showed that the Beerenberg eruptions had been 

 exclusively lava, quite the most interesting .and 

 perplexing feature is the gentle ice-slope ex- 

 tending from 5600 ft. down to the camp at 

 2700 ft. Viewed from a distance, it has all the 

 appearance of an " ice-cap " ; it reminded one very 

 closely of the Hardanger Jokul, for instance. At 

 the time I was inclined to regard it as a new type of 

 piedmont or as an " ice-cap " caused by higher pre- 

 cipitation at intermediate levels. It may be so, but, 

 on the other hand, since returning I have noticed 

 that a similar gentle slope characterises both Mount 

 Vesuvius and Mount Erebus, and it can, therefore, 

 be explained on other grounds. Aneroid observa- 

 tions were taken at regular intervals during the 

 ascent. These give Beerenberg a height of 8090 ft. 

 The Austrian figure arrived at by theodolite observa- 

 tions was 8350 ft. It is not usual to prefer aneroid- 

 to tiieodolite-determined heights, but as the Austrian 

 NO. 2723, VOL. 109] 



triangle was a very bad one 1 think there may be 

 some JUS tilication m ttiis case for adoptmg a lower 

 ligure than that generally accepted. 



Whilst tlie mountam was being climbed^ 

 Musters arid Bristowe had been working at 

 lower levels. After hurried preliminary col- 

 lections round the base camp they transferred 

 their quarters to a small tent eight miles, 

 farther down the coast. From this point the 

 southerly parts were within reach. Musters records 

 a most interesting visit to Seven Hollander Bay^ 

 interesting not only historically, but also botanically 

 in respect of the more luxuriant vegetation in that 

 quarter. When Musters finally left the island he 

 was able to tabulate forty-three species of flowering 

 plants, of which five had not previously been re- 

 corded there ; in addition, the lower orders have still 

 to be worked out and his ecological observations put 

 together. The collections have an added interest 

 just now, as they arrived at the Cambridge Botany 

 School simultaneously with collections made last 

 simmier by Prof. Seward in West Greenland, and 

 by Mr. VValton in Spitsbergen. Bristowe's insects 

 are taking longer to name; meantime he has dis- 

 covered that the spiders are forms met with in the 

 Scottish Highlands; of the flies, etc., only one is 

 native to Britain; the rest are not yet identified. 

 Seventy per cent, of his specimens are new records 

 for the island. 



The successful climb on Beerenberg had revealed 

 a good deal about the geology and glaciology. We 

 realised, however, that on that mountain we were 

 dealing with comparatively recent events in the 

 island's history, and the older chapters, if any, had 

 to be discovered. Lethbridge and the present writer 

 in due course relieved Musters and Bristowe at the 

 tent at the south end. From here we ranged over the 

 more distant and inaccessible parts. Apart from the 

 distances which had to be covered, it was arduous 

 travelling both along the coast and on the scree- 

 covered mountain slopes. As the survey was not 

 absolutely exhaustive, additional data rriay still 

 come to light; meantime the geological recced is 

 somewhat as follows : The oldest rocks are coarse 

 and fine augite tuffs ; they are generally covered and 

 hidden by later lavas, but are occasionally seen form- 

 ing rugged and picturesque cliffs along the coast. 

 The earliest lavas were biotite-trachyte ; rocks of this 

 composition are nowhere found at craters still well 

 preserved, but always as old hill features. The 

 other and later distinctive lava type is an olivine- 

 augite-basalt rich in alkalis. This rock is foimd at 

 all the recent craters and also at many older, half- 

 obliterated centres of eruption. A rock of much the 

 same aimposition, but varying in details, has a. wide- 

 spread occurrence in the form of sills. The south 

 end of the island consists of the older volcanoes ; 

 Beerenberg, at the north end, however, must be one 

 of the latest, and round its foot there are many 

 subsidiary cones— ^.^. Palffy and Vogt craters, 

 which must also be of comparatively recent date. 

 These are exclusively lava craters. One of the very- 

 latest, however,. i^. an ash cone— Egg Bluff | jt has 



