44° Arctic and Antarctic Exploration [part ii 
visited by Weddell, who named them, by Dumont 
d'Urville in 1838, and by Larsen in 1893. Bruce and his 
staff took meteorological, magnetic, and tidal observa- 
tions, and made biological and geological researches and 
collections. Silurian fossils were found, and some evidence 
was obtained to show that the Patagonian coast once 
extended to these islands and beyond them. 
In the second season the Scotia crossed the Antarctic 
Circle in 32 0 W. on February 27th, 1904, finding a depth 
of 2630 fathoms. The ship was now in King George's 
Sea of Weddell. Icebergs of immense size were met with, 
far too large to have come off the mountain slopes. They 
pointed to a vast glacial formation analogous to Ross's 
ice barrier. On the 3rd March, when in 72 0 18' S. and 
17 0 59' W. with a depth of 1131 fathoms, a line of ice 
cliffs 100 to 180 feet high was sighted, but could not be 
approached nearer than two miles. These cliffs were 
probably resting on land which is a continuation of the 
coast of Antarctica from Enderby Land. The line of 
cliffs was traced for 150 miles, and a sounding on the 
continental shelf gave 159 fathoms. Mr Bruce named 
the ice cliffs Coats Land. On the 9th March, the 
Scotia was in 74 0 1' S. and 22° W. and on the 14th she 
was headed north. The soundings obtained were from 
2000 to 2600 fathoms. On the 27th the Antarctic Circle 
was again crossed, the Scotia having been 28 days south 
of it. After a second winter at the South Orkneys the 
expedition returned. 
Drygalski 
German scientific students had long taken a great 
interest in Antarctic research, and Dr Neumeyer, a native 
of Frankenthal near Worms, did more than anyone else 
out of England to arouse an interest in the subject. He 
had been in charge of the observatory at Melbourne from 
1858 to 1862, and afterwards became chief of the See- 
warte at Hamburg. When the German Antarctic ex- 
pedition was decided upon and funds were raised, it was 
wisely resolved to build a vessel specially for the service, 
to be named the Gauss after the great magnetician of 
Gottingen. She was built at Kiel of the best dry oak 
and pitch pine. Her gross tonnage was 650, her length 
