147 



in 1,300 fathoms of water within six miles of where it was 

 stated to exist, 



Having now sketched out the history of Antarctic dis- 

 covery, we may proceed to notioe the results achieved, and 

 from an examination of the facts recorded, endeavour to form 

 some conclusion as to the physical geography of this interest- 

 ing region. Glancing at the maps of the Arctic and Ant- 

 arctic regions, the first thing that strikes us is that the 

 physical features are exactly opposite. In the Northern 

 Polar legions there is a large preponderance of land ; in the 

 South the land masses are small in comparison with the vast 

 extent of ocean. In the North the land masses are so close 

 to the great continents that men, animals, and plants have 

 distributed themselves over all the habitable regions ; in the 

 south the patches of land known to exist are isolated from 

 temperate regions by a wide belt of stormy sea, and except in 

 the direction of South America there is no appproach to the 

 other land divisions of the globe. To this circumstance we 

 may ascribe the want of interest shown in Antarctic dis- 

 covery. For some three hundred years the Arctic Seas were 

 explored in the hope of finding a North-west Passage to 

 China and India, and for many years expeditions were em- 

 ployed in searching for tidings of the fate of Franklin and 

 his companions. The number of purely scientific expeditions 

 was small indeed until within the last ten years. 



It will be seen that outside of the Antarctic Circle the land 

 consists of a few small islands, more dots in the ocean. 

 Inside the Antarctic Circle the land masses are so imperfectly 

 known that we are unable to say whether there is a continent 

 or merely a series of detached groups of islands. The 

 balance of evidence is in favour of the supposition that the 

 Antarctic lands are groups of islands connected together with 

 a continuous ice sheet. The greater part of the land hitherto 

 examined is comparatively low, rarely rising above 2,000 feet 

 in altitude, including the ice cap, the exceptions to this rule 

 being the great mountain chain extending from Balleny 

 Island down Victoria Land to Mt. Erebus, including several 

 peaks rising above 14,000 feet in elevation. Other mountain 

 masses are to be found on Peter the Great Island, Adelaide 

 Island, and Louis Phillipe Island. 



With the exception of a few points swept bare by currents, 

 all the land appears to be fringed with an ice barrier, varying 

 from 70 to 200 feet in height. D'TTrville, Wilkes, and Boss 

 all agree in describing this barrier, none of them were 

 able to scale it, consequently none of these explorers set foot 

 upon the main land. Par away beyond the barrier, in the 

 misty distance, vague forms of hills have been reported, but 

 the appearances are so often deceptions that inexperienced 



