VICTORIA LAND, or SOUTH VIC TORIA LAND, Antarctic regions, a vast con tinental plateau south of New Zealand, ex tending from latitude 71° to the South Pole be tween longitudes 160° to 170° E. Victoria Land was discovered and named by the British navi gator Sir James Clark Ross during his voyage of exploration, 1841-42, when he sailed along.a rocky icebound coast for 450 miles, finding in lat. 78° 10' S. a lofty active volcano 12,367 feet high and an inactive cone over 11,000 feet high, which he named respectively Erebus and Terror, after his vessels. The loftiest point of land is Mount Melbourne, which attains a height of over 14,000 feet. Since the expedi iion of the Belgica (1897-99) and of the British expedition (1898-1900) under the com mand of the Norweran, Borchgrevink, Swed ish, German and British expeditions have added considerably to the knowlecke concerning the meteorological and other conditions of the region. The British Antarctic expedit;on which sailed on the specially built and equipped steam ship Discovery from London 31 July 1901 re turned to Lyttleton, New Zealand, 1 April 1904 in company with the relief steamers Morning and Terranova. The Discovery had been
frozen in for 13 months at the foot of Mount Erebus. Scientific work had been maintained throughout the whole period. At Cape Adare Borchgrevink's huts were found in good preser vation; a new route to the west was discovered and a depot was established 2,000 feet up the glacier. In a dash to the South Pole, Captain Scott, Dr. Wilson and Lieutenant Shackleton (q.v.) reached lat. 82° 17' S., further progress being impeded by. the softening of the snow and the death of their dogs. The fact was estab lished that the interior of Victoria Land con tinued at a height of 9,000 feet and is evidently a vast ice-covered continental plateau. (See ANTAacric REcions). Consult Borchgrevink, 'First on the Antarctic Continent' (1901) ; Bull, 'The Cruise of the Antarctic to the South Polar Regions, or the Voyage to Victoria Land, 1894-95' (1896) ; Cook, (Through the first Antarctic Night, or the Voyage of the Belgica) (1900) and reports of the South Pole dis covery.