202 THE ANTARCTIC. 



account of its great distance. It is certain that the 

 coast, which Ross was able to approach as near as 

 twelve and a half to thirteen miles off Cape Gauss, is 

 low and apparently flat. 



Although " Doubtful Island," as before stated, may 

 have been only an iceberg heavily laden with debris, 

 Franklin Island, where the landing was very dangerous, 

 is undoubtedly a volcanic formation. The north side of 

 the island shows a dark, steep cliff, 500 to 590 feet in 

 height, traversed by a number of light-coloured hori- 

 zontal layers several feet deep, and with yellowish red 

 colour here and there — these may be layers of pumice 

 stone partly decomposed by gaseous exhalations. On 

 the south and south-west side the island is girt in by 

 a lofty ice barrier. Soundings indicate that Franklin 

 Island is to be regarded as the highest point of a 

 volcanic ridge extending from north to south, for four- 

 teen miles north of the island the measurements gave 

 1,194 feet, and these gradually decreased to 305 feet six 

 miles to the north-west, and 220 to 250 feet at two and a 

 half to four miles out. On the south a range of cliffs 

 extends above water for upwards of five miles. A con- 

 tinuation of the line of direction leads straight to Beaufort 

 Island, conical and small, but lofty, lying about two miles 

 off Cape Bird and thus also off Mount Erebus. 



Mount Erebus, whose base sends out a peninsular 

 projection — Cape Bird — to the north, forms the eastern 

 boundary of MacMurdo Bay, which is broad and deep, 

 and rises from the low land adjacent to it on the west 

 to a height of 12,000 feet in round numbers. It is 

 therefore not only relatively, but absolutely, one of the 

 loftiest volcanoes on the earth, since it may be assumed 

 that the enormous mass consists for the greater part of 

 eruptive and ejected rock from the very level of the sea. 

 The form of the mountain is a regular cone, and during 

 the visit of Ross the centre of eruption was on the 



