4 JAMES MURRAY 



from the clear transparent ice, through which on our first arrival we could see the 

 vegetation grosving on the bottom at a depth of several feet. The largest of all was 

 Blue Lake, which most nearly deserved the name of " lake." It was nearly half 

 a mile in length, and filled about half of the valley separating the promontory of 

 Cape Royds from Mount Erebus. The lake was divided into two portions by a very 

 narrow strait, known as the "Narrows," in which the depth was only about three 

 feet. The northern half was deeper, and was found to have a few feet of water under 

 twenty-one feet of ice. The southern half was frozen to the bottom. 



The accompanying sketch-map (Fig. 1) shows the positions of some of the principal 

 geographical features in the immediate vicinity of the camp. The principal lakes are 

 marked, and the highest point of land on the promontory, known as " High Peak." 

 The lower hills are not indicated. 



Beyond the valley occupied by Blue Lake rise the lower slopes of Mount Erebus. 

 This is a region of rocky ridges and moraines like those of Cape Royds promontory, 

 extending for several miles up the mountain, on the sides of which the moraines have 

 been traced to a height of 1100 feet. Many small lakes occur up to a height of at 

 least 500 feet. Northward and southward, at the distance of a few miles, the rock 

 and moraine give place to crevassed glacier. Beyond the limits of the small area thus 

 briefly described, snowfield and glacier stretch for many miles, offering no support for 

 any living thing, unless it be some of those lowliest organisms which can exist on 

 the surface of the snow itself. 



At Cape Barne, two miles south of Cape Royds, there is a district of hill and 

 valley similar to those of Cape Royds, but the hills are higher and the valleys deeper. 

 In this region there are many interesting lakes. In one place there are two 

 concentric curved gullies, both ends of which open to the shore. These are occupied 

 by lakes, one of which, in the gully nearest the shore, is considerably below sea- 

 level. 



The bay immediately east of the hut was our customary dredging ground. All 

 the dredging was done within a mile of the Cape, in shallow water, nowhere more 

 than 100 fathoms in depth. Farther out the Sound deepened to 300 fathoms or 

 more, but that region remained for ever inaccessible. 



Collecting on Land. It is difficult to imagine a more unpromising field for 

 biological study than Cape Royds appears on a first examination. Nothing is to 

 be seen but a succession of ridges of black lava (shattered into loose blocks by the 

 . intense cold), moraines and snowdrifts, all apparently equally barren. 



Near the shore the monotony is relieved by the busy Penguin Rookery, the Skua 

 Gulls, the Weddell Seals, and an occasional Giant or Snowy Petrel. All these 

 animals are only summer visitors, except the Weddell Seal, which comes ashore at 

 all seasons. Apart from these there is no conspicuous life, animal or vegetable, in 

 the whole area. Indeed, leaving the lakes out of account, the collecting which could 

 be done on land was of the most meagre description. 



