14 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' 



with a comparatively open sea to the north and masses of 

 pack-ice to the south ; and beyond the latter he again and 

 again claimed the discovery of high mountainous land. He 

 passed close to Ad^lie Land and Cote Clarie only a few days 

 after their first discovery by D'Urville, and, continuing his 

 course, alleged the discovery of further extensive lands to the 

 westward. 



On his return to civilisation Wilkes claimed a vast dis- 

 covery. The courses of his ships had practically traversed an 

 arc of the Antarctic Circle of no less than 70°, and, although 

 he did not assert that he had seen land continuously south of 

 this arc, he reported its existence at such frequent intervals as 

 to leave little doubt that it was continuous. 



At a later date a great controversy arose as to the accuracy 

 of Wilkes's observations, and resulted in much discredit being 

 thrown on work which in many respects was important. 

 Whilst there can be no possible object in attempting to revive 

 such a controversy, it is evident that the true geographical 

 conditions should be known, and therefore I make bold to 

 give my opinion of the matter. In the course of this narrative 

 I shall show that the mountainous lands reported by Wilkes to 

 the eastward of AdeUe Land do not exist, and it must be 

 recognised that those to the west may be equally unsubstantial, 

 but it is not clear that Wilkes wilfully perverted the truth; 

 only those who have been to these regions can reaUse how 

 constantly a false appearance of land is produced, and no 

 position could be more favourable to such an illusion than that 

 in which this expedition was placed when it skirted the edge 

 of a thick pack containing innumerable icebergs. It must be 

 supposed also, for reasons which I have given, that Wilkes, in 

 common with other explorers, expected to find land about the 

 Antarctic Circle, and when after his return he learned of 

 D'Urville's discoveries, the position of Adelie Land would 

 naturally have tended to dispel any doubt which he may have 

 had as to what he or his people had seen. 



Wilkes's ships were ill adapted for battling with the ice, 

 and, apart from their discoveries, the fact that they continued 



