ch. lxv] Remaining Antarctic Work 507 
solid contents, as suggested by the late Sir John Murray. 
The greatest interest connected with the Antarctic ice- 
cap is to be found in the study of its glaciers, and of its 
edges, possibly mighty cliffs like the Ross piedmont, 
whence the vast icebergs are discharged. 
The most important geographical discoveries which 
remain to be revealed in the Antarctic regions are the 
coasts and interiors of the Weddell and Ross Quadrants. 
A great part of the eastern side of Graham Land is 
still undiscovered, and it is not known whether it is a 
peninsula or an island. A plan for the exploration of this 
important area was ably sketched out by Lieut. Barne, 
but nothing has yet been done. The continuation of the 
Victorian chain of mountains possibly to Graham Land, 
800 miles in length, likewise calls for investigation as a 
part entirely unknown. An ancient connection between 
Antarctica and South America may be revealed, when 
the warm current flowing south down the east side of the 
latter continent was not diverted but flowed directly 
into the far south. But these are but a tithe of the 
problems which Antarctica still offers. There is the 
enterprise of crossing the mountains to ascertain the 
character of the much smaller section of the continent in 
the Ross Quadrant ; there is the survey of the southern 
part of Graham Land ; the exploration of the coast to the 
eastward ; the problem of the origins of the great icebergs. 
The Weddell Quadrant calls for an immense amount of 
geographical and other scientific work, which would give 
full occupation for more than one expedition. 
In the Ross Quadrant there is a coast line of 11 00 
miles in extent to be discovered. Captain Scott's work 
on King Edward VII Land on one side, Alexander and 
Charcot Lands on the other, are the boundary posts to 
this undiscovered Edwardian coast. All we know is that 
Captain Cook saw land in 71 0 S., that Bellingshausen 
sighted Peter Island a little further to the east, and that 
the Belgian expedition wintered over the continental 
shelf in about 71 0 S. The land is probably not a hundred 
miles further south. The ice-pack floats north from the 
coast during the navigable season, and in that case a, 
ship might navigate along the Edwardian coast. It is 
possible that there may be one or more deep indentations, 
