THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



were placed after the leading ship of his expedition. 

 The final fate of that ship is linked with the fate of 

 Sir John Franklin and one of the most tragic stories 

 of Arctic exploration, but though both the Erebus and 

 Terror have sunk far from the scenes of their first 

 exploration, that brilliant period of Antarctic discovery- 

 will ever be remembered by the mountains which took 

 their names from those stout ships. Standing as a 

 sentinel at the gate of the Great Ice Barrier, Erebus 

 forms a magnificent picture. The great mountain 

 rises from sea-level to an altitude of over 13,000 ft., 

 looking out across the Barrier, with its enormous snow- 

 clad bulk towering above the white slopes that run 

 up from the coast. At the top of the mountain an 

 immense depression marks the site of the old crater, 

 and from the side of this rises the active cone, generally 

 marked by steam or smoke. The ascent of such a 

 mountain would be a matter of difficulty in any part of 

 the world, hardly to be attempted without experienced 

 guides, but the difficulties were accentuated by the 

 latitude of Erebus, and the party started off with the 

 full expectation of encountering very low temperatures. 

 The men all recognised, however, the scientific value 

 of the achievement at which they were aiming, and 

 they were determined to do their utmost to reach the 

 crater itself. How they fared and what they found will 

 be told best by extracts from the report which was made 

 to me. 



Erebus, as seen from our winter quarters, showed 

 distinctly the traces of the three craters observed from 

 a distance by the scientific staff of the Discovery 

 expedition. From sea-level up to an altitude of about 

 5500 ft. the lower slopes ascend in a gentle but gradu- 

 ally steepening curve to the base of the first crater; 

 they are largely covered with snow and glacier-ice 



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