354 CHARLES WILKES. 



of frozen earth, whose extreme limits very probably 

 repose upon the Southern Pole. 



On the 25th of January, Captain "Wilkes landed 

 on the solid ice of the continent, and took some 

 magnetic observations. He still steered southward. 

 Sometimes the coast seemed to rise several thousand 

 feet in height. Ledges of volcanic rock were dis- 

 tinctly seen. The cold now became intense, and 

 the navigation extremely difficult and dangerous. 

 On the 12th of February a range of mountains was 

 discovered in the distance, covered with snow. The 

 barriers of ice which hugged the land rendered it 

 impossible to reach the shore. Captain "Wilkes 

 continued to sail along this unknown and frozen 

 continent, without being able to land, until the 21st 

 of February; when the severity of the weather, the 

 increasing sickness of the crews from exposure, and 

 the apparent fruitlessness of a farther advance, in- 

 duced him to give the order to return. The squa- 

 dron re-entered the port of Sidney on the llth of 

 March ensuing. 



After a short delay, the voyage was continued to 

 New Zealand, which was in part explored and sur- 

 veyed ; after which, on the 6th of May, one of the 

 southern islands of the Feejee group was first dis- 

 covered. These islands are inhabited by some of 

 the most savage and degraded specimens of the 



