3o 4 SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
considerably lower elsewhere, Ross concluded that it must 
be afloat. 
Towards the east the barrier trended northeastward, 
and in sailing along* it the expedition found parts where 
the height was only about 80 feet, and it was possible to 
get a good view of the top of the ice from the mastheads. 
It was seen to rise to the south in such a manner as to 
suggest the possible existence of land beneath the icy 
covering. This appearance must have been much less 
marked than the non-existent Parry Mountains which 
Ross never doubted he had sighted the year before. In 
view of the recent discovery of King Edward VII Land 
the reasons which threw doubt on the existence of land in 
this direction in 1842 deserve to be set forth in detail. 
Ross says: 
“ . . . We perceived from our mastheads that it 
gradually rose to the southward, presenting the appear- 
ance of mountains of great height, perfectly covered with 
snow, but with a varied and undulating outline, which the 
barrier itself could not have assumed; still there is so 
much uncertainty attending the appearance of land, when 
seen at any considerable distance, that, although I, in 
common with nearly all my companions, feel assured that 
the presence of land there amounts almost to a certainty, 
yet I am unwilling to hazard the possibility of being mis- 
taken on a point of so much interest, or the chance of 
some future navigator under more favourable circum- 
stances proving that ours were only visionary mountains. 
The appearance of hummocky ridges and different shades, 
such as would be produced by an irregular white surface, 
and its mountainous elevation, were our chief grounds 
for believing it to be land, for not the smallest patch of 
cliff or rock could be seen protruding on any part of 
