1840.J VOYAGE OF THE PAGODA. 285 



abandon the ambitious hope he had cherished, of completing 

 the coronal of his fame by the discovery he longed to achieve. 

 He penetrated to latitude 71° 30' S., between 10° and 20° of 

 west longitude, and from the extensive and minute magnetic 

 observations he had taken, assigned the position of the south- 

 ern magnetic pole in 75° 05' S., and longitude 154° 08' E. 

 Forced to content himself with this, as his officers and men 

 were well nigh exhausted, he relinquished all further efforts 

 in this quarter, and returned to England. 



In the winter of 1844—45, Lieutenant Moore proceeded 

 to the Antarctic regions, from Cape Town, on a scientific ex- 

 pedition, in the barque Pagoda, hired for that purpose by the 

 British government. He made a little further southing, be- 

 tween the meridian of Greenwich and 120° east longitude, 

 than any other vessel had previously done, but was unable to 

 reach the magnetic pole, in consequence of the pack ice and 

 bergs he encountered. He completed the observations, how- 

 ever, left unfinished by Captain Ross, and confirmed the ex- 

 istence of the Antarctic continent discovered by Captain 

 Wilkes, of which Victoria Land is probably a continuation. 



(5.) As one of the results of these various expeditions to the 

 Antarctic seas, we have the discovery of the vast feeding 

 grounds of innumerable whales, who will probably soon be- 

 come accustomed to be disturbed in their icy retreats. Naviga- 

 tion in these bleak latitudes, where the thermometer ranges at 

 12° during the warmest summer month, and at noon rises only 

 to 14°, — and where the waves that break over the vessels fre- 

 quenting their waters freeze as they fall on the decks and 

 rigging, — must always be difficult and dangerous ; yet whale- 

 men are proverbial for their fearlessness in encountering the 

 perils of the deep. Appalling, therefore, as these obstacles may 

 be, if possible to be surmounted, they will both defy and over- 

 come them. 



But of primary importance, in a scientific aspect, are the 

 magnetic observations obtained, and the geological discoveries 

 that have been made. The true position of the southern 

 magnetic pole has been pretty nearly ascertained, and a very 



