4 oo SIEGE OF THE SOUTH POLE 
ping sun, the swarms of breeding penguins crowding on 
every spot of bare land and up the cliffs for a thousand 
feet, and the seals basking on the shore. A bright look-out 
was kept for the return of the ship, but mid-summer 
passed and the first month of the last year of the nine- 
teenth century was nearly done. Deferred hope at length 
made the watch slack, but suddenly one morning the sleep- 
ing party in the hut was aroused by a fresh voice shout- 
ing “ Post! ” and there stood Captain Jensen laden with 
letters and newspapers. This was on January 28th, and on 
February 2nd, 1900, men and dogs had embarked on the 
Southern Cross, and the hut was left by itself in good 
condition with stores enough to be of material service to 
any later travellers who might wander there. 
The course was laid southward along the coast charted 
by Ross, and some fine photographs were obtained of the 
islands and promontories as well as sketches, for Mr. 
Borchgrevink could draw well. The photographs show a 
remarkable similarity to the scenery of the Palmer archi- 
pelago, the snow from the upper slopes accumulating 
below the cliffs to form a confluent shore glacier from 
which miniature icebergs break off. But in addition the 
coast of Victoria Land was seamed by great glaciers 
descending from the immense plateau behind, and some- 
times thrusting their icy tongues far into the sea. A land- 
ing was made on Coulman Island in 73 0 20' S., but the 
stay on shore was limited to twenty minutes, the highly 
magnetic basaltic rocks making it hopeless to attempt 
magnetic observations. The Southern Cross was fortu- 
nate in being able to enter Wood Bay, which was found 
to run much farther into the land than Ross had supposed, 
and a landing was made at the base of the grand cone of 
Mount Melbourne. Some thick reindeer moss was found 
