177^. ROUND THE WORLD. 61 



from east to W. S. W., without the least appearance 

 of any opening. This immense field was composed 

 of different kinds of ice, such as high ills, loos^ or 

 broken pieces packed close together, and what, I 

 think, Greenlandmen call field-ice. A float of this 

 kind of ice lay to the S. E. of us, of such extent that 

 I could see no end to it, from the mast-head. It 

 was sixteen or eighteen feet high at least ; and ap- 

 peared of a pretty equal height and surface. Here 

 we saw many whales playing about the ice, and for 

 two days before had seen several flocks of the brown 

 and white pintadoes, which we named Antarctic pe- 

 terels, because they seem to be natives of that region. 

 They are undoubtedly of the peterel tribe ; are in 

 every respect shaped like the pintadoes, differing 

 only from them in colour. The head and fore-part 

 of the body of these are brown ; and the hind-part of 

 the body, tail and ends of the wings, are white. The 

 white peterel also appeared in greater numbers than 

 before ; some few dark grey albatrosses, and our 

 constant companion the blue peterel. But the com- 

 mon pintadoes had quite disappeared, as well as 

 many other sorts, which are common in lower lati- 

 tudes. 



