)44' Capt. James C. Ross on the Discoveries 



thing beyond it, except only the tops of a range of very lofty 

 mountains in a S.S.E. direction, and in latitude 79° S. 



Pursuing the examination of this splendid barrier to the 

 eastward, we reached the latitude of 78° 4' south, the highest 

 we were at any time able to attain, on the 2nd February, and 

 on the 9ih, having traced its continuity to the longitude of 

 191° 23' in latitude 78° S., a distance of more than 300 miles, 

 our further progress was prevented by a heavy pack, pressed 

 closely against the barrier ; and the narrow lane of water by 

 means oi" which we had penetracted thus far, became so com- 

 pletely covered by rapidly forming ice, that nothing but the 

 strong breeze with which we were favoured enabled us to re- 

 trace our steps. 



When at a distance of less than half a mile from its lofty 

 icy cliffs, we had soundings with 318 fathoms, on a bed of soft 

 blue mud. 



With a temperature of 20° below the freezing point, we 

 found the ice to form so rapidly on the surface, that any 

 further examination of the barrier in so extremely severe a 

 period of the season being impracticable, we stood away to 

 the westward, for the purpose of making another attempt to 

 approach the magnetic pole, and again reached its lat. (76° S.) 

 on the 15th of February ; and although we found that much 

 of the heavy ice had drifted away since our former attempt, 

 and its place in a great measure supplied by recently formed 

 ice, yet we made some way through it, and got a few miles 

 nearer the Pole than we had before been able to accomplish, 

 when the heavy pack again frustrated all our efforts, completely 

 filling the space of 15 or 16 miles between us and the shore. 

 We were this time in latitude 76° 12' S., and longitude 164°, 

 the dip being 88-40, and variation 109*24 E. We were, of 

 course, only 160 miles from the Pole. 



Had it been possible to approach any part of this coast, 

 and have found any place of security for the ships, we might 

 have travelled this short distance over the land; but this 

 proved to be utterly impracticable; and although our hopes 

 of complete attainment have not been realized, it is some sa- 

 tisfaction to feel assured that we have approached the Pole 

 more nearly, by some hundred miles, than any of our prede- 

 cessors; and from the multitude of observations that have 

 been made in both ships, and in so many different directions 

 from it, its position can be determined with nearly as much 

 accuracy as if we had actually reached the spot itself 



It had ever been an object of anxious desire with us to find 

 a harbour for the ships, so as to enable us to make simultane- 

 ous observations with the numerous observatories that would 

 be at work on the important term-day of the 28th of February, 



I 



