318 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' 



The cause of the Barrier movement remains therefore a 

 problem of extraordinary interest, and shows that there are still 

 conditions in the extreme South of which we have no know- 

 ledge. It would seem not altogether unreasonable to suppose 

 that there may be some connection between this matter and 

 the warm snow-bearing southerly winds which we so constantly 

 experienced. 



In considering the northern extension of Victoria Land it 

 would appear probable that the coast runs more or less in a 

 straight line from Cape North to Adelie Land. With reference 

 to our work in this region, I have already shown the probable 

 cause of Ross's error in imagining the Russell Islands to be a 

 group separate from that discovered by Balleny, and I have 

 described our course to the westward. Concerning the latter 

 I may add that whilst it is certain that we must reject Wilkes 

 Land to the eastward of Adelie Land, Wilkes' soundings still 

 remain as a guide to the limit of the continental plateau in this 

 region. Our own uniform soundings of 250 fathoms, together 

 with his, show that there is a considerable extent of shallow 

 sea, limited more or less by the track of Wilkes' ship, approxi- 

 mately along the Antarctic Circle. 



Meteorological Conditions. — The meteorological work of our 

 expedition consists of that laborious record kept by Mr. Royds, 

 which embodied continuous observations for two years in our 

 winter quarters four hundred miles south of any former 

 meteorological stations, as well as such as were taken on our 

 sledging journeys. All these observations have to be corrected 

 and reduced before definite results can be obtained, and there- 

 fore their full value cannot be known at present. The reader 

 can hardly have read the narrative of our voyage without 

 gleaning some idea of the climate in which we lived, and of 

 some of the interesting meteorological problems with which we 

 were confronted ; so that a few additional remarks concerning 

 them may not be out of place. 



In some respects our meteorological station was very 

 fortunately situated, whilst in others it was less satisfactory. 

 From this point of view the proximity of Mount Erebus was 



