142 Capt. James C. Ross on the Discoveries 



of greater magnetic intensity? might be passed over and de- 

 termined, and directly between the tracks of the Russian na- 

 vigator Bellinghausen, and our own Captain James Cook; and 

 after entering the Antarctic circle to steer S.W. towards tiie 

 Pole, rather than attempt to approach it directly from the 

 north, on the unsuccessful footsteps of my predecessors. 



Accordingly, on leaving Auckland Islands on the 12th De- 

 cember, we proceeded to the southward, touching for a few 

 days at Campbell Island for magnetic purposes ; and, after 

 passing among man}' icebergs to the southward of 63° lati- 

 tude, we made the Pack Edge, and entered the Antarctic cir- 

 cle on the 1st day of January IS-H. 



This pack presented none of those formidable characters 

 which I had been led to expect from the accounts of the Ame- 

 ricans and French ; but the circumstances were sufficiently 

 unfavourable to deter me from entering it at this time, and a 

 gale from the northward interrupted our operations for three 

 or four days. On the 5th January we again made the pack, 

 about 100 miles to the eastward, in latitude 66° 45' south, and 

 longitude 174° 16' east, and although the wind was blowing 

 directly on it, with a high sea running, we succeeded in en- 

 tering it without either of the ships sustaining any injury, and, 

 after penetrating a few miles, we were enabled to make our 

 way to the southward with comparative ease and safety. 



On the following three or four days our progress was ren- 

 dered more difficult and tedious by thick fogs, light winds, a 

 heavy swell, and almost constant snow showers ; but a strong 

 water-sky to the S.E. which was seen at every interval of clear 

 weather, encouraged us to persevere in that direction, and on 

 the morning of the 9th, after sailing more than 200 miles 

 through this pack, we gained a perfectly clear sea, and bore 

 away S.W. towards the magnetic Pole. 



On the morning of the llth January, when in latitude 

 70° 41' south, and longitude 17^° 36', land was discovered 

 at the distance, as it afterwards proved, of nearly 100 miles, 

 directly in the course we were steering, and therefore directly 

 between us and the pole. 



Although this circumstance was viewed at the time with 

 considerable regret, as being likely to defeat one of the more 

 important objects of the expedition, yet it restored to England 

 the honour of the discovery of the southernmost known land, 

 which had been nobly won, antl for more than twenty years 

 possessed, by Russia. 



Continuing our course towards this land for many hours, 

 we seemed scarcely to approach it. It rose in lofty mountain 

 peaks of from 9000 to 12,000 feet in height, perfectly co- 

 vered with eternal snow ; the glaciers that descended from 



