heroic deed; this brilliant proof of human courage and energy. With
two ponderous craft -- regular "tubs" according to our ideas -- these
men sailed right into the heart of the pack, which all previous polar
explorers had regarded as certain death. It is not merely difficult
to grasp this; it is simply impossible -- to us, who with a motion
of the hand can set the screw going, and wriggle out of the first
difficulty we encounter. These men were heroes -- heroes in the
highest sense of the word.

It was in lat. 69deg. 15' S. and long. 176deg. 15' E. that Ross found the
open sea. On the following day the horizon was perfectly clear of
ice. What joy that man must have felt when he saw that he had a clear
way to the South!

The course was set for the Magnetic Pole, and the hope of soon reaching
it burned in the hearts of all. Then -- just as they had accustomed
themselves to the idea of open sea, perhaps to the Magnetic Pole
itself -- the crow's-nest reported "High land right ahead." This was
the mountainous coast of South Victoria Land.

What a fairyland this must have seemed to the first voyagers who
approached it! Mighty mountain-ranges with summits from 7,000 to
10,000 feet high, some covered with snow and some quite bare --
lofty and rugged, precipitous and wild.

It became apparent that the Magnetic Pole was some 500 miles distant
-- far inland, behind the snow-covered ridges. On the morning of
January 12 they came close under a little island, and Ross with a
few companions rowed ashore and took possession of the country. They
could not reach the mainland itself on account of the thick belt of