Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
30
Figure 1.15. This view of Granite Harbour is from the spot on Discovery Bluff first climbed by Scott,
Wilson, Koettlitz, and Shackleton. This is also the place that Taylor's party left a depot that was
crucial to the survival of Campbell's party on its return from the winter-over on Inexpressible Island.
Emerging from behind The Flatiron, the buttress in the left center of the photo, Mackay Ice Tongue
extends a short distance into Granite Harbour. From maps recorded during the heroic era, the ice
tongue in the early twentieth century would have extended beyond the right edge of the photo.
The dotted outline of the Mackay Glacier Tongue in Fig. 1.14 follows Taylor's map.
From this inlet Discovery retraced her track along the ice shelf skirting south along
the west side of Mount Erebus. A long peninsula extended south-southwest from the vol-
cano. Just around its tip the explorers found a small bay backed by fast ice and shoreline—
the site of the present-day McMurdo Station. There Discovery moored on February 8.
That night Scott weighed the pros and cons of this location for the winter quarters:
From the point of view of traveling no part could be more seemingly excellent; to
the S.S.E. as far as the eye can reach, all is smooth and even, and indeed everything
points to a continuation of the Great Barrier in this direction. We should be within
easy distance for the exploration of the mainland, and apparently should have little
