304 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' 



calving from the high cliffs in that direction, but we did not 

 see any being detached from the Barrier itself, and I am 

 under the impression, after our examination of its edge, that it 

 must break away in very large pieces. 



A stream of small bergs, with an occasional large one, sets 

 along the Barrier and turns north along Victoria Land. Many 

 of these are delayed in the larger bays and inlets of the coast 

 and hung up on such shoal patches as exist off Cape Crozier, 

 Cape Washington, and Cape Adare. From the latter especially 

 there extends a long string of grounded bergs which appear to 

 have run ashore in an attempt to round the corner too sharply. 

 To the westward of Cape Adare, stretching on to Cape North, 

 we found immense quantities of bergs, but after turning to the 

 north we saw none until we had passed to the westward of the 

 Balleny Islands, when they were again fairly numerous. I 

 cannot think that the bergs we saw before entering the pack in 

 January 1902 can have had any connection with the Ross Sea. 

 I imagine they must have come from further east. 



The size of Antarctic icebergs, as I mentioned in my 

 narrative, has been much exaggerated, though when the 

 formidable appearance of these objects is considered there is 

 every excuse for such exaggeration. Of the many hundreds 

 seen by us, very few exceeded a mile in length or 150 feet in 

 height ; the vast majority were less than a quarter of a mile 

 across and less than 120 feet high. The largest we saw were 

 aground off King Edward's Land, and here too it will be 

 remembered, we found some exceedingly tall ice-cliffs. We 

 had various devices for measuring the heights of icebergs and 

 ice-cliffs when we cruised alone, but it was easier still to get a 

 true estimate of these when the ' Terra Nova ' was in company 

 with us, as then a direct comparison could be made with the 

 height of the masts. 



Another very important point to be determined with regard 

 to Antarctic icebergs is the proportion of the submerged to the 

 visible part. Sir John Murray has estimated this as about 

 7 to 1, but I am inclined to think that it is much less. My 

 opinion is founded, firstly, on general observations of the 



