18th of September
Historical Antarctic Pictures and Events
Robert Falcon Scott, British Antarctic Expedition on the ship Discovery, 1901 - 1904.
1911 - The Roaring Forties.
"The big swell which so often prevails in these latitudes is a most inspiring sight, and must be seen from a comparatively small ship like the Terra Nova for its magnitude to be truly appreciated. As the ship rose on the crest of one great hill of water the next big ridge was nearly a mile away, with a sloping valley between. At times these seas are rounded in giant slopes as smooth as glass; at others they curl over, leaving a milk-white foam, and their slopes are marbled with a beautiful spumy tracery."
The seas below the 40th degree of latitude south are known by mariners as the Roaring Forties, followed by the Furious Fifties and Screaming Sixties. Edward Wilson watercolour, painted on Scott's 1901-1904 Discovery expedition.
