“Not a tree was to be seen. The lands which lie to the South are doomed by Nature to perpetual frigidness, never to feel the warmth of the Sun’s rays, whose horrible and savage aspect I have not words to describe. Even marine life is sparse in certain tracts of vast extent and the seabird is seldom observed flying over such lonely wastes. The contrasts between the limits of organic life in the Arctic and Antarctic zones is very remarkable and significant.”
-James Cook