Severe gales hampered them in their work, but otherwise the winter passed without any untoward incidents. The rocks composing the cliffs of the coast were found to be ancient crystalline formations. The interior of the land was entirely covered, so far as could be seen, by a solid ice-cap forming one of the most extensive glacial regions now known to exist. It seemed to be slightly receding, though no definite evidence of this could be obtained in so short a time as that at the disposal of the explorers. One of the most useful observations made was that relating to the direction of the winds. The trade-winds blowing in the "roaring forties," and which serve so good a purpose in carrying ships round Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope to and from Australia, blow from the west towards the east. At the position occupied by the _Gauss_, inside the Antarctic Circle, it was noticed that the prevailing winds were from east to west. Thus, if a clear passage could be found, vessels sailing round the southern ocean could select either an easterly or a westerly route as suited them best, instead of having, as at present, to follow that indicated by the wind. At the expiration of the period allotted to them for their stay, the explorers were able to get free from the ice, and return to Germany. In this, as has been said, they were the only one of the three expeditions keeping to time. They arrived home after an absence of twenty-eight months, fourteen of which were passed in the South Polar ice. CHAPTER XVII THE SWEDISH EXPEDITION Sails in the _Antarctica_--Argentine Co-operation--First Antarctic Fossil--Building the Winter Station--A Breezy Corner--Electric Snow--A Spare Diet--New Year Festivities--The Missing Ship--Relief that never Came--A Devastating Nip--Castaway--The Unexpected Happens--A Dramatic Meeting--Rescued. The expedition to explore the land lying in the Antarctic region to the south of South America, which, under the international arrangement of 1895, was allotted to Sweden, was placed under the command of Professor Otto Nordenskjold, with whom was associated Professor Johan Andersson, both members of Swedish Universities. The steam barque _Antarctica_, Captain C. A. Larsen, who had already had considerable experience in the Polar regions, was selected as the vessel in which the expedition was to proceed to the field of operations. The original plan was for the expedition to leave Europe in 1901, and to be back in Sweden by May 1903.