Now, having been a boy myself, not so very long ago—apparently—and being still a boy at heart, I know that boys do not as a rule care for geography. That is because it is taught in a stupidly, awkward way at schools, a method being adopted which is devoid of all interest. But never mind, I do wish you for once in a way to take a look at the map here presented to you. The ships were off south and east from Kerguelen Isle, and the first port to be struck was Termination Land. It was not to be the termination of their cruise, however, by a very long way.
Would you be surprised to learn that there are two poles in the south, and two in the north, the magnetic and real poles.
The real axis, the hub of our “terral” wheel, is the one we have to deal with.
Here all meridians may be supposed to meet at a point.
There would in reality be no more south for a man standing at this pole. Let him look in which ever way he liked, to Africa, to South America, or New Zealand; it would all be north, north, north. No east, no west, just north.
The Sea Elephant and her sister, the Walrus, were not to be run into any danger along the coast of Wilkes’ Land, which marvellous line of shore may be said to stretch from Termination Land and Island, right away to Ringgold’s Knoll, far, far east. It is, or is supposed to be, the longest stretch of coast land in, or any way around, the Antarctic. There is no mistake about this being land, nor that it is indented with bays and gulphs, just as the west coast of Scotland or Norway is; and these indentations may really divide the continent in places.
I only want to give you some rough idea of this land coast. Had you then been able to sail along it many thousands of years ago—and you would have had to be up very early indeed to do so—before there was any ice here at all, when the shores were green and forest-clad, the sight you would have witnessed would have been a very beautiful one indeed! Hills and vales and mountain land, and probably in the farther interior, vast sierras, the woods teeming with strange animals; and strange birds would have been there, too, sailing over the forests, or floating on blue seas, alive with myriads of fish of various species, many now lost and gone, others still extant because they have migrated.
But now, though the same formation of surface and contour of hills may remain, they are all, all snow-clad, and protected seawards by a barrier, or barriers of ice, of every description, which few mariners would care to negotiate.
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The weather continued favourable, but there were many days of darkness and gloom; and after Termination Land had been reached, it was not considered advisable—strong and well fortified though the ships were—to be among the ice when the shadows of great clouds enveloped the land, or when storms were threatened. But when the sun shone, and the ice was open, then they boldly ventured to push their way through, either under steam, or under sail.