EXPLORATION OF ANTARCTIC LANDS. 477 
which they played without paying the least attention to our presence. 
We approached the coast in order to attempt a landing. Amongst 
several islets and rocks there was one which presented an appearance 
of stratification with a slight dip: it was flat and almost completely 
bare, showing that the snow-line here does not descend to sea-level. 
We could not see the mountains, for only the lowest part of the coast 
appeared beneath the clouds. A very large moraine, almost completely 
bare, was seen running along the shore in a north-east and south-west 
direction. There was a good deal of floating ice. We saw several 
places where there were great cliffs of ice with curved indentations, 
doubtless marking the places where icebergs had broken off; the 
crevasses on Two Hummocks island represented complete fractures, 
which only required a slight impulse to launch the detached berg. 
At dinner there was a great discussion between Lecointe and de 
Gerlache as to whether these were islands or a continuous coast—a 
question of great difficulty, for what with the fog and the uniform 
white glare without shadow or perspective, it was quite impossible 
to make out the detail of the land. For geographical purposes an 
approximate sketch-map is not to be tolerated; it is little use to 
advance far into an unknown region if all that can be inscribed on the 
map of the Earth is the track of a ship. Such a result, no doubt, is 
highly creditable to a navigator, but a scientific expedition ought to 
have other aims. Lecointe was certainly right to insist that the work 
which had been commenced must be carried through, 
At 2 p.m. we landed on the island one mile from shore, which 
showed an appearance of stratification (VIII on map, Fig. 2). It was 
difficult to get ashore on account of the sea, but when we succeeded 
we found that the whole surface was a smoothly glaciated rock of 
eruptive origin, traversed by veins 20 feet thick of a grey compact 
substance. A little snow remained on the island, but the fog prevented 
us from continuing our survey, and the wind and sea were rising, s0 we 
had to return on board. 
On Saturday, January 29, the weather was calm again; the fog had 
cleared away and revealed a marvellous scene. On every side the thick 
white covering descended to the sea, and only the steepest slopes were 
free from snow; perpendicular cliffs and steep hill-sides were cha- 
racteristic of all these coasts. A cliff which bordered a submerged 
valley where an immense glacier debouched showed an appearance of 
vertical stratification, but our ninth landing enabled us tu prove that 
this appearance was due merely to cracks in the rock, as in all previous 
cases. This may possibly be an effect of extreme cold, for the roches 
moutonnées, which are preserved from abrupt changes of temperature by 
snow covering them most of the year, do not exhibit such cracks, or 
only toa slight extent. It was a curious landscape in white, grey and 
black, yet with plenty of light, although the sun was hidden, and a 
