Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 1.djvu/255

] form, but were generally of large size and of very solid appearance, bounded by perpendicular cliffs on all sides, their tabular summits, varied from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and eighty feet in height, and several of them more than two miles in circumference. As we passed through this chain of bergs we observed large masses continually falling from them, giving proof of their rapid destruction, even in this high latitude, and forming long streams of heavy loose fragments to leeward of them.

We continued our course to the southward, amongst numerous icebergs and much drift ice. A great many whales were seen, chiefly of the common black kind, greatly resembling, but said to be distinct from, the Greenland whale: sperm, as well as hunchbacked whales, were also observed; of the common black species we might have killed any number we pleased: they appeared chiefly to be of unusually large size, and would doubtless yield a great quantity of oil, and were so tame that our ships sailing close past did not seem to disturb them. During a short period of calm in the afternoon many marine invertebrata were taken, amongst them the Clio borealis and beautiful little Argonauta arctica, upon which, doubtless, the whales were feeding, as it is well known that these creatures constitute the whale's food in the northern seas.

A light southerly breeze brought with it almost constant snow-showers and thick weather, so that