i 9 o 3 ] THE ISLANDS TO THE SOUTH-WEST 109 



curious formation which we called the Bluff, and which runs 

 out in such a singularly thin, straight strip from the isolated 

 volcanic cone of Mount Discovery. North of this, as will be 

 seen, there are three large volcanic islands and a number of 

 smaller islets, amongst which lie the rock-strewn remains of an 

 ancient ice-sheet, with numerous vast and partly hidden 

 moraines ; while finally comes the great upheaval of Ross 

 Island itself. The land masses as a whole, with their thousands 

 of craters, great and small, show the result of a very remarkable 

 volcanic outburst. For such light as was thrown on this 

 region during the summer of 1902-3 we had to thank Koettlitz, 

 Ferrar, Hodgson, Bernacchi, and others, who managed from 

 time to time to collect a rough sledging outfit and to make 

 short trips of a week or ten days towards the various points of 

 interest. In this manner Koettlitz proved the insularity of the 

 Black Island by surmounting the obstacles which had checked 

 the first reconnaissance party, and succeeded in walking com- 

 pletely round it. On another occasion he examined the 

 northern side of the Bluff, and on a third traversed much rough 

 ice and ascended to the summit of Brown Island (2,750 feet), 

 whence he and his companions were able to get some idea of 

 what lay beyond. 



In journeying to the south-west our travellers found it 

 advisable to make for the northern coast of Black Island. As 

 I have mentioned before, on such a track after crossing some 

 four or five miles of recently formed ice, they rose from ten to 

 fifteen feet in level to the surface of an older ice-sheet. The 

 travelling continued good till within two or three miles of the 

 island, when disturbances were met with, and it was necessary 

 to cross lines of morainic material which streamed north from 

 the eastern end of the island. This morainic material was 

 principally composed of the black volcanic rock of the island, 

 but amongst it could be found numerous blocks of granite, 

 altogether foreign to the region. The island was surrounded 

 by a well-marked tide-crack, which showed that the ancient 

 sheet of rubble-strewn ice to the north was afloat. Amongst 

 the huge heaps of rock material which it bore were found 



