ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE AND RESEARCH 



could not be far away. However, the massive peaks 

 of the Admiralty Range barred the way to the Mag- 

 netic Pole and Ross turned southward for 430 miles 

 along one of the most remarkable scarped coasts in 

 the world. In spite of its high latitude, it seems 

 likely that much of the Ross Sea remains open 

 throughout the year ; so that Ross was able to pass 

 Weddell's record (74° 15') on January 22nd, and 

 there was still open water to southward. However, 

 on January 29th he reached the famous volcanic 

 island crowned by Mount Erebus (thirteen thousand 

 feet) and since named after himself. The ships now 

 sailed to the east along the Ross Ice Shelf for some 

 three hundred and fifty miles near latitude 78° S., a 

 feat which can in all probability never be beaten else- 

 where, for it is unlikely that another huge open gulf 

 should exist in the at present uncharted Antarctic 

 coasts. He returned to Cape Adare, in the northwest- 

 ern part of Ross Sea, and reached Hobart again in 

 April, 1841. 



Next summer Ross again journeyed south. On this 

 occasion he made his southing considerably to the east 

 of his former route. The ships had a very hazardous 

 journey through the pack, during which the rudder 

 of the ''Erebus" was rendered useless, and that of 

 the ''Terror" was smashed to pieces. He reached the 

 head of the Ross Sea not far from King Edward VII 

 Land. Here Ross gained his farthest south point at 

 78° 9', and it remained the record for some sixty 

 years. On their return they coasted the heavy ice 

 pack which bounds the east of the Ross Sea, and nearly 



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