76 
FROM CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TO SYDNEY 
that an interval of from thirty to forty years may elapse between the moment when one of 
these bergs breaks off from its parent mass in the Antarctic, and the hour when its last 
fragments disappear in the warm floods of the Equatorial currents. The same distinguished 
navigator mentions the identification of an iceberg which he had encountered the year before. 
The disintegration of the enormous accumulations of ice which occupy nearly the whole space 
enclosed by the Antarctic Circle, and represent the sum total of the annual precipitation over 
this vast area, is no doubt due to the influence of the warm currents which flow into that 
region. The separate icebergs must float for a long time in the vicinity of the Antarctic 
Circle, where the low temperature of the air and of the water prevents any rapid diminution 
of their volume. In fact, as we had frequent opportunity of observing, while thus floating 
about, their volume is actually increased by new additions of snow. It was easy to distinguish 
these newly-added layers from the more compact strata of the original mass. There is a 
striking contrast between the Arctic and Antarctic regions as regards the disposal of the 
masses of snow and ice annually accumulating. While the ice of the South Pole finds a 
ready outlet through the Southern Ocean, by which it is surrounded on all sides, that of 
the North Pole accumulates in an almost land-locked basin, and, as is well known, can only 
reach lower latitudes through the comparatively narrow channels off the east and west coasts 
of Greenland. It seems, therefore, highly probable that the greater portion of the Arctic Ocean 
is covered with an accumulation of ice of very ancient date—a conclusion borne out by the 
experience of the latest explorers. The ice which barred their further progress towards the Pole 
was but a portion of the enormous ice-field which surrounds the latter. Perpetually forming 
and re-forming, divided by occasional areas of open water, the Arctic ice drifts about from year 
to year within the narrow limits of the Arctic Basin without an adequate outlet towards the south. 
But to return to the opposite hemisphere. On the 22nd a display of Aurora Australis 
was observed for the first time m the shape of some slight flashes seen shortly after midnight. 
At 4 P-m., the number of icebergs visible above the horizon had fallen from seventy-seven 
on the previous day to thirty-two ; and a change of colour in the sea, from blue to olive-green, 
was again observed during a run of several hours. We were still travelling in the company 
ofWhales^and of sea-birds of every description. The following day brought us again into the 
vicinity of pack-ice; while in the 
afternoon a sounding was obtained 
in 1300 fathoms. Flashes of Aurora 
Australis were observed after sunset. 
February the 24th threatened to be 
the last day of the “Challenger’s” 
cruise. Shortly after an unsuccess¬ 
ful attempt at dredging, a gale 
THE “CHALLENGER’S" ANTAGONIST. 
surprised us while surrounded by icebergs. About noon, while the men were on the 
yards reefing sail, the ship, apparently diverted from her course by an eddy, drifted upon a 
berg, and, coming in collision with it, buried her jib-boom in its side. With the help of 
