ose upright, and so close were we passing to leeward of one of those huge islands, that our trysails were thrown aback by the eddy-wind. The helm was put up to pay the ship off, but the proximity of those under my lee bade me keep my course. All was now still, except the distant roar of the wild storm that was raging behind, before, and above us; the sea was in great agitation, and both officers and men were in the highest degree ex cited. The ship continued her way, and, as we proceeded, a glimmering of hope arose, for we had accidentally lit upon a clear passage between two large ice islands, which in fine weather we should not have dared to venture through. The suspense endured while making our way between them was intense, but of short duration, and my spirits rose as I heard the whistling of the gale grow louder and louder before us as we emerged from the passage. We had escaped an awful death, and were again tempest-tossed."

In 1839, Sir James Ross sailed in command of an expedition fitted out by the British Government to determine the position of the South Magnetic Pole, and to explore the Antarctic Seas in the highest possible latitude. After some preliminary work, the Antarctic Circle was crossed, and on the 11th January, 1841, the distant heights of Victoria Land were seen. It was, wrote Sir James, "a beautiful, clear evening, and we had a most enchanting view of the two magnificent ranges of mountains, whose lofty peaks. perfectly covered with eternal snow, rose to elevations varying from seven to ten thousand feet above the level of the ocean. The glaciers that filled their intervening valleys, and which descended from near the mountain summits, projected, in many places, several miles into the sea, and terminated in lofty perpendicular cliffs. In a few places the rocks broke through their icy covering, by which alone we could be assured that land formed the nucleus of this, to all appearance, enormous iceberg." It was found impossible to land on the mainland, and only with great difficulty was a landing effected on an island-Pos session Island-composed entirely of volcanic rocks and utterly destitute of vegetation, but the abode of inconceivable myriads of penguins. Steering south along the coast, the magnificent ranges sighted on the 11th were fully in view on the 15th. The highest points were estimated to be from 10,000 to 14,000 feet in height, and were entirely covered with snow. Naming the loftiest peak Mount Herschel, after Sir John Herschel, the vessels stood south, and, on the 21st, the immense crater of Mount Melbourne and the pointed summit of Mount Monteagle were sighted. On the 27th, landing was effected on an island, which was named Franklin Island, in latitude 75° 48′ S., and, pressing still south, two huge mountains-Mount Erebus and Mount Terror (one of them, Erebus, an active volcano)-were sighted and approached on the 28th. Mount Erebus was "observed to emit smoke and flame in unusual quantities, producing a most grand spectacle; a volume of dense smoke was projected at each successive jet with great force, in a vertical column, to a height of between 1,500 to 2,000 feet above the mouth of the crater, when, condensing first at its upper part, it descended in mist or snow, and gradu. ally dispersed, to be succeeded by another splendid exhibition of the same kind in about half an hour afterwards, although the intervals between the eruptions were by no means regular. The diameter of the columns of smoke was between two or three hundred feet, as near as we could measure it; whenever the smoke cleared away, the bright red flame that filled the mouth of the crater was clearly perceptible, and some of the officers believed they could see streams of lava pouring down its sides until lost beneath the snow, which descended from a few hundred feet below the crater, and projected its perpendicular icy cliff several miles into the ocean. Mount Terror was much more free from snow, espe cially on its eastern side, where were numerous little conical crater-like hillocks, each of which had probably been at some period an active volcano."

The ice barrier along the coast of Victoria Land was found to be impenetrable, and Ross therefore returned north, having reached the furthest southerly point ever attained -784'S. In the following year, he returned south and examined the ice barrier, but failed to find an opening, and again went north. In December, 1842, the Erebus and Terror stood south for the third time, but in a different direction, the object being to trace the coast-line of Louis Philippe Land. The mainland was sighted on the 30th, and on New Year's Day, 1843, landing was effected on Cockburn Island, which is remarkable as being the furthest southerly land on which vegetation is found. It being found impossible to penetrate the heavy pack-ice met with at all points, the expedition returned home. The perseverance, daring, and coolness, displayed by the officers and trews of the Erebus and Terror on these perilous voyages, have never been surpassed and rarely, if ever, equalled by seamen of any nation.

It would have seemed natural if the brilliant di-coveries of Ross had been followed up by other important expeditions, but since his return in 1843 comparatively little has been attempted to further Antarctic exploration. The Challenger expedition, though not sent out for Antarctic exploration, considerably widened our knowledge of south polar waters; and a few whaling expeditions have of recent years succeeded in reaching high latitudes, notably those of Captain Larsen, of the Jason, to Graham's Land, who reached 659 to S., and discovered a few small volcanic islands and King Oscar II. Land; and of Captain Kristensen, of the Antarctic, who, for the first time since the days of Ross, re-sighted Victoria Land, and reached a latitude of 74° S. In 1895, Borchegrevink, in the whaler Antarctica, reached Victoria Land, and found a species of moss on Possession Island (in 74° S. lat.), and in 1899, in a second voyage, he wintered in Victoria Land, sledging south to lat. 78° 50' S., and determining by his observations the position of the South Magnetic Pole. Alexander Land formed the winter quarters of the Belgica under Gerlache in 1897-8, and by his soundings and those of the German Deep Sea Expedition to Enderby Land in 1899, the fact was established that the basin of the South Polar Ocean has an average depth of over 2,000 fathoms. The beginning of the present century was marked by a renewal of Antarctic exploration. A number of scientific expeditions were equipped, to simultaneously explore the South Polar Regions, with the object of extending our knowledge of their topographical, geological and biological features, and their climate and magnetic phenomena. In 1901, the British Expedition set out under Scott in the Discovery, and spent two winters in Victoria Land, sledging south over the lofty and wind swept interior, as far as 82 17 S. lat. The German Expedition under Drygalski in the Gauss, examined the coast of Kaiser Wilhelm Land, south-east of Kerquelen: Swedish and French Expeditions, under Nordenskiold and Charcot, charted the coast of Graham Land and the adjacent island-groups, and the Scottish Expedition under Bruce explored the Weddell Sea (finding soundings of over 2,0* * fathoms), and the ice-wall fronting the coast of Coat's Land. The value of the scientific results obtained from these expeditions was enhanced by the fact that during their progress corresponding observations were taken in all the magnetic stations throughout the world, and in all the meteorological stations to the south of 30° S. lat.

APPENDIX A.

ORTHOGRAPHY OF NATIVE NAMES OF PLACES.

With regard to the frequently perplexing matter of geographical nomenclature, the following notes on the system of orthography for native names of places, adopted by the Council of the Royal Geographical Society, will be useful for reference :

1. No change will be made in the orthography of foreign names in countries which use Roman letters; thus Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, &c., names will be spelt as by the respective nations.

2. Neither will any change be made in the spelling of such names in languages which are not written in Roman characters as have become by long usage familiar to English readers; thus Calcutta, Cutch, Celebes, Mecca, &c., will be retained in their present form.

3. The true sound of the word as locally pronounced will be taken as the basis o. the spelling.

4. An approximation, however, to the sound is alone aimed at. A system which would attempt to represent the more delicate inflections of sound and accent would be so complicated as only to defeat itself. Those who desire a more accurate pronunciation of the written name must learn it on the spot by a study of local accent and peculiarities.

5. The broad features of the system are that vowels are pronounced as in Italian, and consonants as in English.

6. One accent only is used, the acute, to denote the syllable on which stress is laid. This is very important, as the sounds of many names are entirely altered by the mis placement of this "stress."

7. Every letter is pronounced.

When two vowels come together each one is sounded, though the result, when spoken quickly, is sometimes scarcely to be distinguished from a single sound, as in ai, au, ei.

8. Indian names are accepted as spelt in Hunter's Gazetteer.

The amplification of the rules is given below:

Sawakin.

is always a consonant, as in yard, and therefore, Kikuyu.
should never be used as a terminal, i or e
being substituted.

Thus, not Mikindany, but
not Kwaly, but
English s
Accents should not generally be used, but where
there is a very decided emphatic syllable or
stress, which affects the sound of the word,
it should be marked by an acute accent.

Mikindani.

Kwale.
Zulu.
Tongatábu, Galápagos,

Palawan, Sarawak

APPENDIX B.

ETYMOLOGY OF GEOGRAPHICAL TERMS AND PLACE-NAMES.

The following list of the affixes and prefixes that enter into the composition of geographical names, will be found of much service, as these words and particles are of constant occurrence, and frequently indicate the former, and sometimes the present, condition of the places to which they are applied.