This continued for the next two weeks, taking the party deep into the Weddell Sea.[39] Further delays then slowed progress after the turn of the year, before a lengthy run south during 7–10 January 1915 brought them close to the 100-foot (30 m) ice walls which guarded the Antarctic coastal region of Coats Land. This territory had been discovered and named by William Speirs Bruce in 1904 during the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition.[40] On 15 January, Endurance came abreast of a great glacier, the edge of which formed a bay which appeared a good landing place. However, Shackleton considered it too far north of Vahsel Bay for a landing, "except under pressure of necessity"—a decision he would later regret.[41] On 17 January, the ship reached a latitude of 76° 27′S, where land was faintly discernible.