Coats Land
By 29 January, the ship was beyond the location of Bruce's 1904 sighting of Coats Land, and had passed Weddell's southernmost mark of 74°15'S. The water was now becoming rapidly shallower in depth, showing the imminent approach of land; light surf was visible in the distance to the south. The next day land was observed in the form of ice cliffs, up to in height, behind which rose a gentle slope of ice and snow to a height of above . "Under this mass of ice", wrote Filchner, "undoubtedly lay hidden the Antarctic continent". This first geographical discovery of the expedition was named by Filchner as "Prinzregent Luitpold Land" (or "Luitpold Coast"), after the expedition's principal patron.