THE HEART OF THE ANTARCTIC 



then followed a belt of coarsely crystalline white 

 marble traversed by bands of grey gneiss and blackish 

 rock. Capping this belt of ancient crystalline rocks 

 was a terrace of angular gravel, from eighty to one 

 hundred feet above sea-level, formed of small rock 

 fragments from one to two inches in diameter. The 

 belts of coarse marble, gneiss, &c., were stained green 

 and reddish to ochreous brown in places, and appeared 

 to have been much minerahsed. The whole area 

 seemed to promise well for economic minerals. One 

 curious boulder specially attracted my attention; its 

 large pinkish crystals were peppered over with small 

 black crystals, the whole being enclosed in a greenish 

 black base. A specimen of this boulder which we 

 brought back with us will be described in detail in the 

 geological notes. 



On Saturday, October 17, Mawson, Mackay and I 

 landed at Cape Bernacchi, a little over a mile north 

 of our previous camp. Here we hoisted the Union 

 Jack just before 10 a.m. and took possession of Victoria 

 Land for the British Empire. Cape Bernacchi is a low 

 rocky promontory, the geology of which is extremely 

 interesting. The dominant type of rock is a pure white 

 coarsely crystalline marble; this has been broken through 

 by granite rocks, the latter in places containing small red 

 garnets. The marble or talc schist contains graphite 

 disseminated through it in small scales. A great deal 

 of tourmaline and epidote are developed in the granite at 

 its point of contact with the calcareous schists. It 

 appeared that the granite had intruded the black 

 tourmaline rocks. 



After taking possession we resumed our sledging, 

 finding the surface of pancake ice very good. The day 

 being calm and clear and free from either falling or 

 drifting snow, we were able, for the first time, to turn 



94 



