1904] DRIVEN NORTH 275 



ing sky rose the lofty snow-clad slopes of Erebus and the high 

 domed summit of Cape Bird. For the last time we gazed at 

 all these well-known landmarks with feelings that were not 

 far removed from sadness, and yet whatever sorrow we may 

 have felt at leaving for ever the region which had been our 

 home, it is not surprising that after our recent experiences the 

 last entry in my diary for this night should have been, ' Oh ! but 

 it is grand to be on the high seas once more in our good ship.' 



February 20 saw us still speeding along the coastline to the 

 north with a strong following breeze ; although the sky was 

 overcast the land was clearly in view and we were able to keep 

 within ten miles of it in a perfectly clear sea, though we could 

 see a fringe of pack-ice and numerous small bergs close to the 

 coast. It will be remembered that this stretch of the coast 

 was quite unknown until we had made our way south along it, 

 and that even then we had been obliged to keep a long dis- 

 tance out in many places on account of the pack-ice. Now we 

 were able to fill in all the gaps which had formerly been 

 missed, and even more; for our indefatigable surveyor, 

 Mulock, remained on deck day and night during this run, 

 taking innumerable angles to peaks and headlands, whilst our 

 artist, Wilson, was equally diligent in transferring this long 

 panorama of mountain scenery to his sketch-book. 



At three in the afternoon of the 20th we sighted the white 

 cliffs of the curious glacier tongue which, as may be seen on 

 the chart, runs out for many miles in a strangely attenuated 

 form. At 10 p.m. we rounded the end of this snout and bore 

 up for Wood Bay ; the high cone of Mount Melbourne and the 

 bluff cliffs of Cape Washington could be seen in the distance. 



The main object in going to Wood Bay was to fill up our 

 water supply, but we had also come to the conclusion that this 

 place must be closer to the magnetic pole than had been 

 supposed, and for a long time we had cherished the hope of 

 being able to make a series of magnetic observations on its 

 shores, but in this respect we were destined to be disappointed, 

 as my diary shows : 



'■February 21. — At 2 a.m. the wind, still freshening from 



T2 



