COLLECTING IN ANTAECTIC SEAS. 7 



tidal observations are not, for the time being, accessible, I can only say, therefore, that 

 the average rise and fall was about three feet ; the difference between neaps and 

 springs was about a foot. 



The set of the current through the Sound would naturally be influenced by the 

 tide, but, extraordinary as this may seem, it was not noticed. A current-meter placed 

 two or three hundred yards to the southward of the ship, while working, invariably 

 showed a current travelling to the south-east, or around Cape Armitage. Two holes 

 were constantly kept open in order to obtain specimens, one of these was close to the 

 ship, the other about a mile and a half distant ; others there were, but they were of a 

 more temporary nature. Up to the end of January, 1903, the current invariably 

 carried the lines, that depended from these holes, to the south or south-east according 

 to the position of the particular hole, that is, round Cape Armitage towards the 

 outlet of the Sound between White Island and Cape Mackay. Quite suddenly on 

 Feb. 2, 1903, the current was noticed setting very strongly to the northward, or exactly 

 opposite to the normal direction. This lasted for a few weeks, but it was not constant. 

 It then reverted to the normal and became constant in general direction, but not in 

 strength. I was unfortunately confined to my bunk during the " critical " period of 

 1904 and was, therefore, unable to note the change of current. If such occurred at 

 that period, no mention was made of it by others ; just before then it had varied 

 considerably in strength but not in direction. 



As regards the sea bottom, its composition, as far as could be ascertained, was an 

 exact counterpart of the land surface. The heights round Winter Harbour were 

 composed almost exclusively of basaltic rocks, the average elevation of which was 

 over 400 feet, though Crater Hill in the background was 1000 feet high. This 

 extremity of the Ridgway consisted of extinct craters in a more or less shattered 

 condition, the greater part of the rock lying in small angular lumps, with here and 

 there a sprinkling of boulders of very moderate dimensions, and on the lower 

 levels, patches of a fine gravel or coarse sand. The bottom of the Sound was the 

 same wherever it could be examined : angular basaltic stones everywhere, with small 

 patches of volcanic sand, mud and boulders of varying size near the shore. The 

 shoal ofi" Cape Armitage, already alluded to, was more covered with organic debris, 

 chiefly polyzoa and shells ; especially on its south-eastern slopes, which were rather 

 steep. No. 10 Hole was over this slope, a mile and a half S.S.E. from the ship in 

 125 fathoms. 



In the north, 10 miles from Hut Point, the Dellbridge Islands rise apparently 

 abruptly from the bottom. The so-called " Glacier Snout " lay a mile nearer the ship, 

 and presented many peculiar features which could not be fully investigated. It is not 

 directly connected with Mount Erebus, and many circumstances point to its being on a 

 submerged ridge, but two soundings taken at the end of our stay only serve to 

 complicate the problem. They were taken against the Glacier Snout, half a mile from 

 its free end ; that on the south side showed bottom at 175 fathoms, that on the north 



