ROUND CAPE HORN. 95 



5tli having- passed to the eastward of Cape Horn 

 we bore up for the Falkhmd Ishinds, having- taken 

 fort3'-three days to traverse a direct distance of a 

 little more than 5000 miles. During this period 

 the wind was usuall}' strong- from the south-west^ 

 but on various occasions we experienced calms and 

 easterly winds^ the latter varying- between N.E. and 

 S.S.E. and at times blo^^'ing• very hard with snow 

 squalls. The lowest temperature experienced by us 

 off Cape Horn was on the day when we doubled 

 the Cnpe in latitude 57° S. when the minimum 

 temperature of the day was 21° and the maximum 

 26°. This reminded some of us that we had now 

 passed through not less than 75 deg-rees of tempe- 

 rature in the ship, the thermometer in the shade 

 having- indicated 96° during- a hot wind in Sydney 

 harbour. 



A passag-e such as ours, during- which at one 

 time we were further from land than if placed in 

 any other portion on the g-lobe, must almost of 

 necessity be a monotonous one. We saw no land, 

 not even an iceberg-, and very few vessels. For 

 five or six successive evening-s when in the parallels 

 of 40° and 41° S. between the meridians of 133° and 

 113° W. we enjoyed the fine sig-ht of thousands 

 of larg-e Pyrosomoe in the water, each producing- 

 a g-reater body of lig-ht than I ever saw given out 

 b}" any other of the pelagic-luciferous mollusca 

 or medusae. The towing net was put over on 

 several occasions but produced little or nothing- to 



