Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/323

] of October, for which we had abundance of time to prepare.

A large party from each ship, under the immediate direction of Captain Crozier, laboured hard for several days, clearing the only spot of level ground of sufficient extent for our purpose: this proved to be a swamp, and, after digging through the upper crust, of about two feet in thickness, they found a liquid bog, six feet in depth: beneath this, was a stiff clay, and, at length, by driving numerous piles into it, and placing casks filled with sand upon them, a firm foundation was made. It was still necessary completely to isolate these supports of the instruments from the upper crust of the bog, by digging a deep ditch round the building, which effectually prevented the vibration of the swamp, and the tremulous motion of the magnets, which the footsteps of any one approaching the observatory had previously produced. The regular series of magnetometric observations was commenced on the 29th of September.

The shores of St. Martin's Cove are composed of a very compact greenstone and hornblende rock, rising abruptly from the sea to an elevation of about twelve hundred feet; above these are some rugged peaks, which attain nearly two thousand feet. The hills surrounding the harbour form an amphitheatre, and their sides, to about a thousand feet, are clothed with the evergreen and deciduous beech, so densely interwoven that it is almost