Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 1.djvu/128

56 soon as possible at our next rendezvous, we bore away with the intention of laying down as much of the coast line of the island as we could before dark.

Like the rest of the group it is evidently of igneous origin; near the tops of some of the hills we could perceive short basaltic columns, and two or three appearances of extinct craters: the coast is high and precipitous at the north end and singularly stratified; along its eastern shore it is more broken into small bays, and we observed several cataracts issuing from the more extensive green patches upon the hill-sides, and dashing over the black cliffs into the sea beneath.

The remarkable "Dark Head," at the northern extreme of the island, is in lat. 46° 19′ S., long. 51° 53′ E.; the southern point is in lat. 46° 28′ S., and long. 51° 56′ E.; the variation of the compass 35° 13′ W. The centre of East Island is in lat. 46° 27′ S., and long. 52° 14′ E.

These results, though sufficient for all the purposes of navigation, were not obtained with exactness, owing to the unfavourable state of the weather for observations.

Leaving the south end of Possession Island at 4 we steered close along the southern coast of East Island. Though not more than three or four miles in diameter its loftiest pinnacles attain a height of at least four thousand feet, and the precipices of its shores in some places rise several hundred feet perpendicularly from the sea. Nearly every cape has its detached rock extending off it,