﻿32 
  Tra7isactions, 
  — 
  Miscellaneous. 
  

  

  subsequent 
  discoveries 
  revived 
  the 
  idea 
  in 
  a 
  modified 
  form, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  so 
  

   long 
  since 
  anytliing 
  was 
  done 
  towards 
  exploring 
  the 
  antarctic 
  regions, 
  that 
  

   a 
  hazy 
  notion 
  that 
  a 
  mass 
  of 
  land 
  surrounds 
  the 
  South 
  Pole 
  seems 
  again 
  to 
  

   be 
  diffusing 
  itself, 
  and 
  we 
  frequently 
  find 
  " 
  the 
  antarctic 
  continent 
  " 
  spoken 
  

   of 
  as 
  though 
  it 
  were 
  an 
  ascertained 
  fact, 
  whereas 
  its 
  existence 
  is 
  a 
  mere 
  

   hypothesis, 
  although 
  not 
  a 
  groundless 
  one. 
  -"What 
  has 
  really 
  been 
  dis- 
  

   covered 
  are 
  three 
  large 
  tracts 
  of 
  land, 
  many 
  islands, 
  and 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  

   pieces 
  of 
  land 
  which 
  may 
  either 
  be 
  islands 
  or 
  the 
  outlying 
  points 
  of 
  a 
  

   continent. 
  The 
  longest 
  and 
  best 
  known 
  of 
  the 
  three 
  lai'ge 
  tracts 
  just 
  

   mentioned 
  is 
  that 
  lying 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  Cape 
  Horn, 
  its 
  various 
  parts 
  being 
  

   named 
  respectively 
  Louis 
  Philippe 
  Land, 
  Palmer 
  Land, 
  Graham 
  Land, 
  

   and 
  Alexander 
  Island. 
  It 
  is 
  fringed 
  with 
  islands, 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  South 
  

   Shetlands 
  and 
  the 
  New 
  Orkneys 
  are 
  the 
  principal 
  groups. 
  In 
  the 
  same 
  

   hemisphere, 
  but 
  due 
  south 
  of 
  port 
  Dunedin, 
  hes 
  Victoria 
  Land, 
  discovered 
  

   by 
  Sir 
  James 
  Eoss 
  in 
  1841, 
  the 
  coast 
  line 
  of 
  which 
  was 
  further 
  explored 
  by 
  

   him 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  year. 
  This 
  land 
  is 
  remarkable 
  for 
  being 
  the 
  site 
  of 
  an 
  

   active 
  volcano, 
  12,367 
  feet 
  high, 
  named 
  by 
  Eoss 
  Mount 
  Erebus. 
  It 
  is 
  

   situated 
  in 
  the 
  high 
  latitude 
  of 
  76° 
  6' 
  S., 
  and 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  an 
  

   extinct 
  volcano, 
  called 
  by 
  Eoss 
  Mount 
  Terror. 
  Eoss 
  traced 
  Victoria 
  Land 
  

   from 
  the 
  70th 
  degree 
  of 
  latitude 
  to 
  nearly 
  the 
  79th, 
  the 
  precise 
  latitude 
  

   attained 
  by 
  his 
  ships 
  being 
  78° 
  10' 
  S., 
  or 
  nearly 
  four 
  degrees 
  higher 
  than 
  

   any 
  navigator 
  had 
  reached 
  before. 
  It 
  would 
  appear 
  that 
  Victoria 
  Land, 
  to 
  

   the 
  south 
  of 
  New 
  Zealand, 
  forms 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  bight 
  ; 
  but 
  what 
  checked 
  Eoss's 
  

   progress, 
  and 
  prevented 
  him 
  ascertaining 
  the 
  precise 
  contour 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  at 
  

   this 
  latitude, 
  was 
  a 
  sohd 
  barrier 
  of 
  ice, 
  without 
  flaw 
  or 
  fissure 
  in 
  its 
  face, 
  from 
  

   100 
  to 
  300 
  feet 
  high, 
  trending 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  and 
  east. 
  He 
  sailed 
  along 
  this 
  

   barrier 
  for 
  450 
  miles, 
  without 
  being 
  able 
  to 
  find 
  an 
  entrance 
  or 
  to 
  see 
  any 
  

   land 
  rising 
  behind 
  it 
  during 
  a 
  great 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  distance, 
  so 
  that, 
  although 
  

   Eoss 
  himself 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  of 
  opinion 
  that 
  the 
  barrier 
  screened 
  a 
  body 
  

   of 
  land, 
  it 
  cannot 
  be 
  positively 
  asserted 
  that 
  such 
  is 
  the 
  case. 
  Victoria 
  

   Land, 
  may 
  either 
  at 
  the 
  point 
  where 
  Eoss 
  met 
  the 
  barrier, 
  trend 
  to 
  the 
  

   South 
  Pole, 
  or 
  it 
  may, 
  covered 
  by 
  the 
  ice 
  barrier, 
  stretch 
  away 
  to 
  the 
  east- 
  

   ward 
  to 
  meet 
  Alexander 
  Land, 
  between 
  which 
  and 
  Victoria 
  Land 
  the 
  only 
  

   known 
  Land 
  is 
  Peter 
  1st 
  Island, 
  on 
  the 
  91st 
  meridian 
  of 
  west 
  longitude, 
  

   discovered 
  by 
  the 
  Eussian 
  navigator, 
  Bellingshausen, 
  in 
  1821. 
  

  

  Turning 
  now 
  to 
  the 
  westward 
  and 
  south 
  of 
  AustraHa, 
  we 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  

   important 
  discoveries 
  of 
  our 
  countryman 
  Ballemy, 
  the 
  Frenchman 
  D'Urville, 
  

   and 
  the 
  American 
  Wilkes. 
  These 
  consist 
  of 
  the 
  Ballemy 
  Isles, 
  Sabrina 
  

   Land, 
  and 
  Adelie 
  Land. 
  The 
  two 
  latter 
  form 
  a 
  coast 
  hne, 
  if 
  we 
  are 
  to 
  

   credit 
  Wilkes, 
  extending 
  from 
  154° 
  27' 
  E., 
  to 
  97° 
  30' 
  E. 
  long.; 
  but 
  Wilkes's 
  

  

  