468 THE ANTARCTIC MANUAL. . 
lending a strong odour of guano to the breeze. We resumed our way, 
and the island dropped out of sight. 
On Sunday, January 23, the sky cleared at last, the clouds parted, 
the sun shone, and our radius of vision gradually extended. We were 
to the west of Low island, which we could now see much more clearly. 
It seemed to be low and entirely surrounded by huge rocks and abrupt 
islands quite free from snow. The air was poisoned by the smell of 
guano. M. de Gerlache changed the course to east-south-east, in order 
to enter Hughes gulf, and we passed again some icebergs seen on the 
previous night. One of these was particularly fine and characteristic, 
with a height of 130 feet and a length of 250 yards. I made two 
drawings of this berg from different sides. These represent it as a 
plateau bordered by cliffs and topped by a mound. On one side one 
could see that the summit was composed of thin layers of snow, perfectly 
parallel and horizontal. The colour of the ice at the base was a very 
pale greenish blue, but the blue was intense in a large hollow—a verit- 
able azure grotto. Position at noon, 63° 28’ 30" §., long. 62° 13' W. 
On leaving the island the floating ice was gradually left behind, the 
weather again became squally with fog and rain, and about 3 p.m. more 
ice appeared again; generally in a tabular form, but sometimes as 
isolated peaks or as tables dipping to one side, in which case the lines of 
stratification remained parallel to the surface of the berg. The weather 
gradually cleared, and land was sighted, at first a series of islands and 
rocks, and then a more extensive coast. At 7 p.m. we passed close to a 
headland, which very probably was Cape Cockburn, but as we went on 
the charts became valueless; what we saw corresponded to nothing that 
they represented, and Lecointe proceeded to take bearings at frequent 
intervals, which allowed him to construct an approximate chart. At 
10 p.m. land seemed to block further advance towards the south; high 
mountains appeared on the horizon, and islets and rocks were scattered 
over the great bay at whose entrance we had arrived. Many places 
were clear of snuw, and numerous peaks projected above the ice-sheet, 
so that it would be possible to study the geology. At 10.80 we were 
close to an island, and de Gerlache, Racovitza, Cook and I got into a 
boat and made our first landing in the Antarctic regions (see Fig. 2, I). 
A considerable part of the island was uncovered. The upper part was 
like a lava-flow of prismatic structure; lower down the rock was com- 
pletely cracked, and seems to decompose in large superimposed blocks 
with straight surfaces. It is an eruptive rock of great density, very hard 
aud brittle, and rings on a blow with the hammer, It is not basalt, but 
of granitic structure and very fine-yrained; its colour is a very deep 
green, and I thought that I saw small crystals of hornblende—if so, the 
rock is a diorite. I had no time to examine the snow, as it grew dark, 
and we had to return on board. 
Monday, January 24, was a day of discoveries, and it is impossible 
