CHAPTER III, 
LirE IN SourH VICTORIA WAND. 
E» on the 17th February, 1899, for the 
first time in the world’s history an anchor fell at the 
last ferra incognita on the globe. The Southern 
Cross dropped anchor at South Victoria Land in ten 
fathoms of water, and before even the spray from 
femelle anchor had settled on the icy surf, an 
echo from her salute of four guns, mingled with 
energetic cheers from thirty-one enthusiastic men, 
pierced the frosty air, and gradually died away as 
it travelled far in between those lofty snow-clad 
Beals owe Us. At once І landed from а boat, 
taking with me Mr. Bernacchi and the Finn Savio. 
On landing Mr. Bernacchi took occasion to heartily 
congratulate me. Already, while far out to sea, it 
had struck me that the Cape and its surroundings 
seemed much more free from ice and snow than 
was the case on the occasion of my first visit in 
E then the Cape had several feet of ice 
and snow on the top, now it was absolutely bare. 
The beach where we landed was almost exactly in 
the same condition as when I first trod upon it; 
only here and there some ice-blocks were left; the 
rest was dark and bare, and on the peninsula itself 
