MINERAL DISCOVERIES 



gneissic granite. This granite, as shown in the photo- 

 graph, was full of dark enclosures of basic rocks, rich in 

 black mica and huge crystals of hornblende. It was in 

 these enclosures that Mawson discovered a translucent 

 brown mineral, which he believed to be monazite, but 

 which has since proved to be titanium mineral. Patches 

 of a crystalhne, milky- white mineral were to be seen 

 amongst the large platy crystals of dark green horn- 

 blende. These white crystals we thought might be 

 scapolite. We returned to camp and slept soundly after 

 the severe work of the day. 



We were up at 6 a.m. next morning, and after 

 breakfast Mackay and Mawson went in pursuit of some 

 seals which we had sighted further back on the previous 

 day, while I climbed up an adjacent granite slope with 

 the field-glasses, watching for a signal from them, if 

 they were successful in their hunting, to bring up an 

 empty sledge. They were, however, unsuccessful in 

 their quest, and after some time returned to camp. 



We packed up and made for the island at 9.30 a.m. 

 The sledging was extremely heavy, and we fell into a 

 tide-crack on the way, but the sledge was got over safely. 

 Mackay sighted a seal about six hundred yards distant 

 from the site of our new camp near the island, and just 

 then we noticed that another seal had bobbed up in the 

 tide-crack close to our old camp. Mackay and Mawson 

 at once started olF in the direction where the first seal 

 had been sighted. It proved to be a bull seal in very 

 good condition, and they killed it by knocking it on the 

 head with an ice-axe. Meanwhile, I unpacked the Duff 

 sledge and took it out to them. Returning to the site 

 of our camp I put up the tent, and on going back to 

 Mawson and Mackay found that they had finished 

 fletching the seal. We loaded up the empty sledge with 

 seal blubber, resembling bars of soap in its now frozen 



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