THE TERRA NOFJ GOES SOUTH g$ 



their flippers a foot or two below the surface, or imitating the 

 dolphins in curving leaps through the air. On the shore 

 near the rookeries the snow was worn into long gutters where 

 the penguins promenaded to and fro. The winds are too 

 strong for any economic deposit of guano to arise. We saw 

 brown patches driven by the wind on to a snow bluff five 

 hundred feet above the rookery. 



About 6 p.m. on the 3rd Erebus came into sight. We 

 approached it from the north-east — an unusual direction — and 

 so, perhaps, obtained a more comprehensive view of the outer 

 crater than previous observers. It is a wonderful " Somma " 

 ring, like that of Vesuvius, and being composed of dark steep 

 rock, it stands out in strong contrast to the inner white cone 

 and the outer snow-covered slopes. Ponting got a fine photo- 

 graph of it, which will be of interest to vulcanologists. Having 

 given up all idea of wintering on the north-east quarter of 

 Ross Island, we immediately steamed west to McMurdo 

 Sound. 



We were engaged on a survey of the north coast of Ross 

 Island. Bowers with sextant, Pennell at the compass, Camp- 

 bell at the range-finder, each with an assistant, formed a busy 

 group on the ice-house. 



All that night we steamed steadily west to Cape Bird, 

 passing Beaufort Island on the starboard, and then turned 

 south again to Cape Royds. Beaufort Isle was the scene of 

 an exploit of one of our seamen (Paton), who was shut in 

 by pack some five miles away from the island in the whaler 

 Morning. He and a mate broke leave to try and reach the 

 isle across the floes, but had to return without accomplishing 

 their wish. On his return to civilization Paton found he had 

 become a proud father. The child was christened Beaufort 

 Paton on the suggestion of Lieut. Evans. 



About 5 a.m. we came into sight of the western face of 

 Erebus. McMurdo Sound was closed in here by loose pack, 

 but the ship threaded her way through fairly readily. We 

 were keenly interested to see the condition of the ice at Cape 

 Royds, and two of our afterguard (Priestley and Day) have a 

 personal interest in the headquarters of Shackleton's expedi- 

 tion. Soon after the queer volcanic knob on the end of Cape 

 Barne hove in view we sighted the meteorological screen, and 

 immediately afterwards the hut of the 1907 expedition. But 



