t5o THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Feb. 



had one tall column in the centre which one might liken to a 

 dissipated funnel ; we had consequently called it the ' Belleisle 

 berg, in recollection of the woe-begone appearance of the 

 ironclad of that name after she had served as target to a more 

 modern battleship. 



We were naturally eager to find out how far this berg had 

 travelled in the interval, and were most surprised to learn that 

 now after twelve days it had only drifted seventy miles to the 

 westward, an average of six miles a day. As I have pointed 

 out, the ship experienced a strong westerly set when cruising 

 along the barrier, and there can be no doubt that the pack-ice 

 and smaller bergs are carried along by this at a far greater 

 speed than is represented by the above figures ; one can only 

 suppose that the current experienced was merely a surface 

 current, and that the larger bergs are influenced by the deeper 

 water which is not moving so rapidly. Possibly also the 

 current in the surface waters, like those in McMurdo Sound, 

 are seasonal and only follow a seasonal prevalence of easterly 

 winds. At this time easterly winds were certainly prevalent, 

 but there seems some reason to doubt whether they are so at 

 all seasons. 



On our return along the barrier we had experienced much 

 lower temperature than on the outward journey, and as this 

 strongly suggested an early closing of the Victoria Land har- 

 bours we were anxious to delay our western journey as little as 

 possible. In some alarm lest we were already over-late, we 

 were anything but reassured when on the morning of the 7th 

 the temperature fell to + 2 and we were enveloped in a thick 

 fog of ice-crystals. We could only console ourselves by reflect- 

 ing that these exceptionally cold temperatures were produced 

 by a wind from off the great snow-plains of the barrier, where 

 probably at no time of the year were the temperatures other 

 than severe. 



Early on the 7 th we caught glimpses of the land through 

 the patchy fog, and now, being under sail alone, we were 

 obliged to haul to the north to give it a wide berth. The icy 

 fog had so stiffened the ropes and sails, and had made the 



