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Sketch of 
and spongy feel, was evidently the product of annual 
accumulations of their excrement, forming a tolerably 
thick covering to the rocks. Many of the birds 
appeared as if their breasts were stained with blood, 
which, on examination, was found to arise from a red 
colouring matter in the excrement on which they had 
been resting their breasts. 
I shot one of the raptorial gulls, flying over head, 
which had more grey about the head and neck than the 
Auckland one, and was somewhat smaller in size. 
The whole appearance of the land, extending from 
the 71st to the 78th degree of latitude, presents the 
same volcanic character, studded with many crater¬ 
shaped hills. 
On the 28th of January, in lat. 77° 31' south, and 
long. 167° 1' east, a magnificent volcano, actively 
burning, was discovered, and named Mount Erebus, 
after the ship. It rises to the height of 12,367 feet 
above the level of the sea, sending up a column of 
smoke, at times intermingled with flame, at least 2000 
feet above its crater, which formed a black rim cresting 
the summit of the mountain, the base and acclivities of 
which were almost entirely covered with ice and snow. 
Adjoining is another mountain (Mount Terror), not 
much inferior in altitude, being 10,884 feet, which has 
evidently sent forth its streams of lava at no very remote 
period of time. Our further progress south was here 
checked by a barrier of ice, extending from the land in 
an easterly direction, forming a continuous perpendicular 
wall of ice 150 feet and upwards in height, which we 
traced for about 300 miles without finding any indication 
of a termination to it. The summit of the barrier pre¬ 
sented an almost uniformly level outline; soundings 
were obtained within less than a mile of it, in 318 
fathoms, on a bottom of green mud. In all probability, 
