INTERESTING FOSSILS 



in the gravel of the top terrace, eighty feet above sea- 

 level. 



While Mawson determined the position of this 

 island by taking a round of angles with the theodolite, 

 Mackay and I crossed the strait and explored the 

 island, pacing and taking levels. The rocks of which 

 the erratics and boulder-bearing gravels were formed 

 were almost without exception of igneous origin. One 

 very interesting exception was a block of weathered 

 clayey limestone. This was soft and yellowish grey 

 externally but hard and blue on the freshly fractured 

 surfaces inside. It contained traces of small fossils 

 which appeared to be seeds of plants. Specimens of 

 these were taken by us and were depoted later at another 

 small island, which we called Depot Island. It is 

 much to be regretted that we were unable later to 

 reach this depot on account of dense belts of pack-ice, 

 and so these very interesting specimens were lost. Two 

 chips, however, of this rock were fortunately preserved, 

 sufficient for chemical analysis and microscopic examina- 

 tion. There could be little doubt that this clayey 

 limestone has been derived from the great sedimentary 

 formation, named by H. T. Ferrar, the Beacon Sand- 

 stone. 



The island which we had been exploring we named 

 provisionally Terrace Island. It was approximately 

 triangular in shape, and the side facing the strait, 

 down which we travelled, measured one mile 1200 yards 

 in length. 



The following day, October 22, we sighted the first 

 skua gull we had seen that season. Snow fell in the 

 afternoon between 2.30 and 5 p.m., forming a layer 

 three-quarters of an inch deep. The temperature rose 

 to plus 6.5° Fahr. at 7 p.m., and a blizzard seemed 

 impending. 



Vol. II.-7 97 



