WILKES LAXD. 221 



supposed sight of land was after all deceptive in spite of 

 the very numerous icebergs he saw, and which led him 

 to believe in the nearness of land. The map certainly 

 does not support Wilkes' testimony, he having himself 

 falsely indicated the existence of land west of the position 

 above described, whilst at the same time he mentions the 

 south-west as the direction in which it was seen, and adds 

 that it seemed to extend to the north. It is, however, not 

 absolutely impossible that " Termination Land " may have 

 been raised by strong refraction high above the horizon, 

 and that it may consequently still exist, but farther south. 

 It is possible that the coast of Wilkes Land, in its 

 conjectured extent, trends to the south and thus forms a 

 west coast, whence the icebergs drift towards the north, 

 and meeting those of the north coast, forming the gigantic 

 accumulation of bergs which blocked Wilkes' progress to 

 the east and that of Nares to the west. 



If we take a general survey of Wilkes Land we may 

 be justified in assuming that it consists of a tolerably old 

 mass built up of crystalline slate and sediments, the edo-e 

 of which follows a due east and west direction, is entirely 

 glaciated, and shows mere moderate elevations. The sub- 

 marine base of the land obviously descends to the sea 

 bottom more steeply than in Victoria Land, in spite of the 

 slight elevations of the country ; this is proved by the 

 soundings, albeit few in number, which have here been 

 made. For example, about sixty-five miles north of the 

 supposed position of Ringgold's Knoll or Eld's Peak a 

 depth of 5,105 feet was sounded; in Peacock Bay, about 

 seventeen to twenty miles from the coast, a depth of 4,816 

 feet was sounded, but a little to the north of it the lead 

 indicated a depth of only 1,923 feet. All other soundings 

 failed to reach the bottom at depths varying from 900 to 

 1,825 feet. In Piner's Bay, near Pointe Geologie, Wilkes 

 found a rocky bottom at a depth of only 180 feet. The 

 remarkable proximity of a comparatively great depth near 



