226 FROM EDINBURGH TO THE ANTARCTIC 
by Ross — I should have thought it only about 600. Its 
sides rise precipitously from the sea, then slope gradually 
into a truncated cone. The only snow on the island lay 
in a gully down the middle of the cone. I could see no 
reason why the snow did not lie on this island, as there 
were steeper slopes on the other islands on which the 
snow lay. The snow on the islands and the snow on the 
land to the eastward was of a slightly different tint from 
that on the pack-ice and bergs. It had a yellowish, creamy 
tinge, whilst that on the pack and bergs was cold absolute 
white. The difference was very slight, but remarkable. 
It would be interesting to know the cause. 
Captain Davidson of the Active discovered that Join- 
ville Land does not continue to Cape Fitzroy, but is 
separated from the land to the South by a strait through 
which he navigated the Active. Captain Davidson called 
the land Dundee Island, and the strait the Firth of Tay. 
As we steamed south the views of the land and ice- 
bergs and islands and birds became so numerous and in- 
teresting that we felt at a loss which to look at first. The 
number of penguins increased as we sailed towards Erebus 
Gulf. They jumped on to the ice-cakes in family parties, 
and looked at us as we passed, striking quaint attitudes 
on the snow ; then a new kind of tern appeared, and some 
snowy petrels — an exquisitely beautiful, pure white bird, 
never found far from the ice ; they are about the size of a 
common tern, with black beak and eyes and feet 
About midday we saw a long, pale, brown figure 
lying on the snow, and all eyes were bent on it ; at first, 
owing to the blinding white light, it was difficult to see 
