177^* ROUND THE WORLD. <2t)9 



fog that we could not see two hundred yards round 

 us ; and as we knew not the extent of the loose ice, I 

 durst not steer to the south till we had clear weather. 

 Thus we spent the night, or rather that part of the 

 twenty-four hours which answered to night ; for we 

 had no darkness but what was occasioned by fogs. 



At four o'clock in the morning of the 29th, the 

 fog began to clear away ; and the day becoming clear 

 and serene, we again steered to the south with a 

 gentle gale at N. E. and N. N. E. The variation was 

 found to be 22 41/ E. This was in the latitude 

 of 69 45' S-, longitude 108 5' W. ; and, in the 

 afternoon, being in the same longitude, and in the 

 latitude of 70 23' S., it was 24 81' E. Soon 

 after, the sky became clouded, and the air very cold. 

 We continued our course to the south, and passed a 

 piece of weed covered with barnacles, which a brown 

 albatross was picking off. At ten o'clock, we passed 

 a very large ice-island ; it was not less than three or 

 four miles in circuit. Several more being seen ahead, 

 and the weather becoming foggy, we hauled the 

 wind to the northward ; but in less than two hours, 

 the weather cleared up, and we again stood south. 



On the 30th, at four o'clock in the morning, we 

 perceived the clouds, over the horizon to the south, 

 to be of an unusual snow-white brightness, which we 

 knew denounced our approach to field-ice. Soon 

 after, it was seen from the top-mast head ; and at 

 eight o'clock, we were close to its edge. It extended 

 east and west, far beyond the reach of our sight. In 

 the situation we were in, just the southern half of 

 our horizon was illuminated, by the rays of light 

 reflected from the ice, to a considerable height. 

 Ninety-seven ice-hills were distinctly seen within the 

 field, besides those on the outside ; many of them 

 very large, and looking like a ridge of mountains, 

 rising one above another till they were lost in the 

 clouds. The outer, or northern edge of this immense 

 field, was composed of loose or broken ice close 



