52 
On the newly discovered 
courageous and persevering commander ; an officer whose 
deliberate judgment in the hour of doubt and danger 
early gained for him the full confidence and admiration 
of every person in each ship:—but I beg his pardon, for 
my merits do not justify any eulogy from me on such a 
man. We now again poured forth the most loyal senti¬ 
ments to Her Majesty, and drank her health with every 
honour, claiming for her all the land seen and to be seen 
by the Expedition, This, and on the re-crossing of the 
latitude of the pole, were the only occasions on which 
this sacred flag was exhibited. 
This very interesting little island is nearly in the lati¬ 
tude of the magnetic pole, and may be considered as the 
key to Mount Erebus, which is just in sight. In future 
we shall call it by the name which, from the interest it 
had excited amongst us all, it was considered worthy of 
bearing, i. c. “ Franklin Island.” Matters being thus 
far settled, we began to look around for the purpose of 
examining the rocks, and making a small collection of 
specimens of them; but we found, to our disappoint¬ 
ment, that our rambles were confined to a few yards in 
circuit, for on each side of the dyke perpendicular walls 
were made by the cutting influence of the tidal waves on 
the surrounding softer rocks, and this wall was of such 
a height as to defy the most expert Alpine hunter. 
This rock appears to be greenstone, in some parts 
showing a disposition to pass into fine-grained basalt. 
This was particularly the case in the crater of the rock, 
while the outer crust, which had suffered from corrosion, 
was of a cellular texture, with numerous fractures and 
vertical cleavages, which render it easy to detach. 
Franklin Island is in latitude 76° 12' S., longitude 
118° 20' E. : it is of an oblong figure, showing an equal 
amount of escarpment on all sides, except to the west¬ 
ward, where, as usual in these regions, a heavy field of 
