696 The American Naturalist. [August, 
were fired into it. It fought a thirteen hours’ battle and then escaped, 
taking with it a good deal of line, two of the harpoons, and all of the 
rockets. Larsen saw three other species of whales there, but none of 
much commercial value, while the seals are desirable chiefly for their 
oil. 
. The most southern point reached by Capt. Larsen was in 68° 10 
south latitude. Had he advanced a few miles further, it would have 
been necessary to turn quite abruptly to the east, for he saw the shore 
line bend around till it ran almost due east and west, and behind it 
was high land covered with snow. He had followed the coast on the 
east side of Graham’s Land as far as Biscoe had traced it on the west. 
On the map the reader will find Alexander I. Land, which is due 
west of the high land seen by Larsen when he turned his ship to go 
north again. Dr. Murray believes that Alexander I. Land is a part 
of the west coast of Graham's Land, and that this landmass, which 
Biscoe and Larsen proved to widen rapidly toward the south, is only a 
peninsula of the continent of Antarctica. 
It is interesting to consider the geographical significance of Larsen's 
voyage. Our maps show that all around the Antarctic area, in the 
neighborhood of the South Polar circle, bits of land have’ been discov- 
ered. It is noteworthy that scarcely one of these bits of land has been 
explored in its whole extent. The explorers did not ascertain whether 
the land they saw was islands or projections from some great land mass. 
Discoverers have very rarely been able to effect a landing on account 
of the belt of pack ice or ice floes, often ten to twenty miles wide, that 
separated them from the shore. "There are several excellent reasons 
why many of the leading geographers and geologists believe that these 
various lands— Victoria, Graham, Wilkes, Adelie, Clarie, Sabrina and 
Termination Lands and sonie others, are merely parts of theouter edge 
of a large continent. To mention here only one of these evidences, the 
Challenger expedition, sounding in Antarctic waters, brought to light 
material which is regarded as strongly indicating the proximity of a 
landmass of continental proportions. Ross believed this when he was 
in the region where Larsen has made his reconnoissance. Ross said 
that though the ice prevented him from taking his vessel south, he be- 
lieved he could have landed and travelled over the continent. Larsen’s 
work adds strength to the theory, for we see Graham’s Land rapidly 
widening as its coasts are followed toward Victoria Land. A great 
deal of the area within the Antarctic Circle may be covered with the 
sea and still leave room there for a land of continental extent. It has 
been observed, when possible to approach the land, that there is much 
