98 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Jan. 



than 200 miles, expending the precious coal which would have 

 taken us three times that distance in an open sea. Although 

 we could congratulate ourselves on getting through, it was 

 evident that we had encountered a heavier obstruction than 

 had Sir James Ross in first entering this sea in 1840, when, 

 even in his slow sailing ships, he had been able to penetrate 

 this pack in four days. 



As we entered the open sea the thick pall of leaden clouds, 

 which had remained persistently over us in the pack, rolled 

 away, and the sun shone forth in a clear sky. Furling our 

 sails, we obtained in lat. 70.3 a sounding of 1,480 fathoms, 

 indicating that we were on the verge of the Antarctic land 

 plateau. We celebrated our successful penetration of the pack 

 by splicing the mainbrace, and at our modest dinner in the 

 wardroom we drank to the future in champagne, so that the 

 shout of 'Land in sight' at 10.30 p.m. only added to an 

 already joyful frame of mind. All who were not on deck 

 quickly gathered there, to take their first look at the Antarctic 

 Continent ; the sun, now near the southern horizon, still shone 

 in a cloudless sky, giving us full daylight. Far away to the 

 south-west could be seen the blue outline of the high mountain 

 peaks of Victoria Land, and we were astonished to find that 

 even at this great distance of more than 100 geographical 

 miles we could clearly distinguish the peaks of the Admiralty 

 Range. 



The course was directed for Robertson Bay, but when 

 within forty or fifty miles we again fell in with loose streams of 

 pack-ice, and once more repaired to the crow's nest to ' con ' 

 the ship through. At 4 p.m. on the 9th, after much turning 

 and twisting to avoid the heaviest masses of ice, we arrived off 

 the entrance of Robertson Bay, and forcing our way through a 

 heavy band of pack-ice at the entrance, eventually reached the 

 open water within the bay. Robertson Bay is formed by the 

 long peninsula of Cape Adare, within which, standing but 

 slightly above the level of the sea, is a curious triangular spit, 

 probably the niorainic remains of the vaster ice conditions of 

 former ages. 



