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 ice that lay along the coast.

The expedition continued to work its way southward, making fresh discoveries.  On January 28 the two lofty summits, Mount Erebus and Mount Terror, were sighted for the first time.  The former was seen to be an active volcano, from which smoke and flames shot up into the sky.  It must have been a wonderfully fine sight, this flaming fire in the midst of the white, frozen landscape.  Captain Scott has since given the island, on which the mountains lie, the name of Ross Island, after the intrepid navigator.

Naturally there were great expectations on board.  If they had penetrated so far south, there might be no limit to their further progress.  But, as had happened so many times before, their hopes were disappointed.  From Ross Island, as far to the eastward as the eye could see, there extended a lofty, impenetrable wall of ice.  To sail through it was as impossible as sailing through the cliffs of Dover, Ross says in his description.  All they could do was to try to get round it.  And then began the first examination of that part of the great Antarctic Barrier which has since been named the Ross Barrier.

The wall of ice was followed to the eastward for a distance of 250 miles.  Its upper surface was seen to be perfectly flat.  The most easterly point reached was long. 167deg.  W., and the highest latitude 78deg. 4’ S. No opening having been found, the ships returned to the west, in order to try once more whether there was any possibility of reaching the Magnetic Pole.  But this attempt soon had to be abandoned on account of the lateness of the season, and in April, 1841, Ross returned to Hobart.

His second voyage was full of dangers and thrilling incidents, but added little to the tale of his discoveries.

On February 22, 1842, the ships came in sight of the Barrier, and, following it to the east, found that it turned north-eastward.  Here Ross recorded an “appearance of land” in the very region in which Captain Scott, sixty years later, discovered King Edward VII.  Land.