E.— GEOGRAPHY. 77 



southern extremity some four degrees north of Murray's position inlat. 82°S. 

 But that southward prolongation of the Wedded Sea and Atlantic 

 Ocean at the expense of Antarctica was based solely on Ross's mistaken 

 sounding of 4000 fathoms, no bottom, in lat. 68°48'S., long. 12°20'W. 



Most of the Antarctic ' lands,' and certainly nearly all those that may 

 be classed as key positions to the coastline of Antarctica, date from last 

 century, some of them from a hundred years ago. Coats Land, Wilhelm 

 Land and Oates Land are among the few exceptions. Enderby Land, 

 the one certain or nearly certain land in over 3000 miles of hypothetical 

 coastline, has never been seen or seriously searched for since Biscoe found 

 it in 1831. It should be the base of an expedition that is prepared to 

 work westwards. Heavy ice congestion so far found by all vessels that 

 have tried to push south between Enderby Land and Coats Land, suggests 

 that this stretch of coastline will have to be put in by sledge journeys- 

 along the edge of the ice cap. The western shores of the Wedded Sea are 

 another ice-girt region which no ship has been able to penetrate, a region 

 of dangerous ice pressure. Here, too, the advance must be by land 

 journey, but it should be relatively simple, since accessible bases are 

 known in Oscar Land and adjoining parts of Graham Land. Lastly,, 

 there is the great gap south of the Pacific between Charcot and Edward 

 Lands, which leaves ample scope for an attack from both ends. A minor 

 problem in the outline of Antarctica for an expedition based on Edward 

 Land is the determination of the eastern side of the Ross Sea and the 

 elucidation of Amundsen's sighting of land to the south of Edward Land, 

 the appearance of land which he called Carmen Land. 



But even more important than the discovery of the ' missing ' stretches 

 of the Antarctic coastline— a mere matter of descriptive geography— is 

 the explanation of the structure of the continent and its former con- 

 nections with other lands of the Southern Hemisphere. The problem is 

 made more difficult of solution by the immense covering of ice that 

 completely hides the underlying rock in most parts. Detailed exploration 

 has so far concentrated on the two more accessible coasts of Antarctica, 

 those of Graham and Victoria Lands. In fact, one might reasonably argue 

 that there has been too great a concentration of interest on those coasts, 

 on the part of well-found expeditions, to the neglect of unknown or little- 

 known areas more difficult of access but promising more striking 

 discoveries. That has been due, no doubt, to the one, Graham Land 

 with its islands, projecting northward into open sea and lying near civilised 

 lands, and the other, Victoria Land, offering the most promising point of 

 departure for sledge journeys to the Pole. However, now that the South 

 Pole has been reached, the temptation to focus effort on the best available 

 base for that undertaking has gone, and the explorer's energy of the 

 future is more likely to be expended in directions more profitable to the 

 advancement of knowledge. 



Graham Land, for we discard the awkward title of West Antarctica, 

 and Victoria Land, or more strictly South Victoria Land, are both regions 

 of lofty mountain ranges, but apparently of contrasted structure and 

 diverse origin. The ranges of Graham Land, often called the Antarctic 

 Andes, in stratigraphy and structure as well as in their eruptive rocks, 

 bear so close a resemblance to the Cordilleras of South America that there 



