APPENDIX I 



SUMMARY OF THE GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 



MADE DURING THE CRUISE OF THE 



S.S. ' DISCOVERY,' 1901-1904 



By H. T. Ferrar, M.A., F.G.S., Geologist to the National 

 Antarctic Expedition 



Previous Knowledge. 



It is unnecessary to recapitulate the numerous voyages that have 

 been made to the southward of latitude 6o° S., therefore we will 

 very briefly touch on the points of interest obtained by the 

 expeditions which have entered our area, in so far as the 

 information obtained bears on this subject. 



In the year 1839 Captain Balleny, of the shipping firm of 

 Messrs. Enderby, of London, discovered five islands near the 

 Antarctic Circle in about longitude 163 E. On one of these 

 islands (Buckle Island) an active volcano was observed, and on 

 another specimens of ' scoria and basalt with crystals of olivine ' 

 were found. 



Sir James Clarke Ross, in the year 1841, when in charge of the 

 Magnetic Survey Expedition in H.M.S. 'Erebus' and H.M.S. 

 ' Terror,' made the discoveries on which the work of this 

 expedition has been built. These discoveries may be summed up 

 very briefly : 



(1) An open shallow sea to the south of the Antarctic Circle. 



(2) A great range of mountains which rise occasionally to 



heights of 1 5,000 feet, and extend in a north-and-south 

 direction for at least 500 miles. 



(3) An active volcano (Mount Erebus), over 12,000 feet high, 



' emitting flame and smoke in great profusion.' 



(4) A wall of ice (the Great Ice Barrier) on an average 150 feet 



high and about 470 miles : long. 



Y 2 



