Recent Antarctic Exploration \ i 



gradually increasing in height as we got nearer to it, and proving at 

 length to be a perpendicular cliff of ice between 150 and 200 feet above 

 the level of the sea, perfectly flat and level at the top, and without any 

 fissures or promontories on its even seaward face. What was beyond it 

 we could not imagine ; for, being much higher than our mast-head, we 

 could not see anything except the summit of a lofty range of mountains 

 extending to the southward as far as the 79th degree of latitude. These 

 mountains, being the southernmost land hitherto discovered, I felt great 

 satisfaction in naming after Captain Sir William Edward Parry.... 

 Whether ' Parry Mountains ' again take an easterly trending and form 

 the base to which this extraordinary mass of ice is attached, must be left 

 for future navigators to determine. If there be land to the southward, it 

 must be very remote, or of much less elevation than any other part of the 

 coast we have seen, or it would have appeared above the barrier.... 

 The day was remarkably fine ; and, favoured by a fresh north-westerly 

 breeze, we made good progress to the E.S.E. close along the lofty 

 perpendicular cliffs of the icy barrier. 



"Jan. 29. Having sailed along this curious wall of ice in perfectly 

 clear water a distance of upwards of one hundred miles, by noon we 

 found it still stretching to an indefinite extent in an E.S.E. direction. 

 We were at this time in lat. 77 47' S., long. 176 43' E....I went on 

 board the 'Terror' for a short time this afternoon (29th Jan.) to consult 

 with Commander Crozierand compare our chronometers and barometers. 

 ...After an absence now of nearly three months from Van Diemen's 

 Land, the chronometers of the tw.o ships were found to differ only 4" of 

 time, equal to a mile of longitude, or, in this latitude, less than a quarter 

 of a mile of distance." 



These quotations from Ross' Voyage show how careful he 

 was about his observations. The position in which he lays 

 down this part of the Barrier may therefore be accepted with 

 absolute confidence as determined by one of the most ex- 

 perienced, accurate, and cautious officers, controlled and 

 confirmed by the captain and staff of the consort ship. In 

 questions of this kind, and as between the years 1841 and 

 1902, date counts for nothing in weighing evidence ; the de- 

 termining factor is the competence and experience of the 

 observer. The "Discovery" had no second ship to act as 

 control; and none of her officers had experience of polar 

 navigation which could be compared with that of those 

 serving on the " Erebus " and " Terror." When, therefore, 

 other things being equal, there is any conflict between the 



