4 VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. June 



a double-reefed topsail breeze sufficiently strong to keep 

 the ships steady and prevent them from rolling to wind- 

 ward. During the previous week I had been striving 

 to get to the northward, in the hope of experiencing the 

 easterly winds prevailing in about latitude 58° N., but 

 we were not fated to enjoy any of them. 



Next day, the barometer having fallen previously, 

 the wind shifted to the north-westward and forced us 

 to stand to the southward ; it also increased con- 

 siderably, the seas breaking on board the deeply laden 

 vessels to such an extent that the hatchways were 

 obliged to be battened down. By the afternoon of the 

 12th, the gale had evidently blown itself out, and the 

 sea going down enabled the hatchways to be opened 

 and the mess deck dried up ; but as we were congratu- 

 lating ourselves on the prospect of finer weather the 

 barometer again commenced to fall and the wind to 

 freshen from the south-west. 



For several hours the ships were run to the north- 

 ward in the hope of getting on the northern side of the 

 path of the vortex of the new gale ; but the wind quickly 

 increased and forced sail to be shortened, until there 

 was nothing set but a close-reefed main topsail and 

 fore- staysail ; the ' Discovery ' staggering along in her 

 endeavour to keep station with a reefed foresail in 

 addition. A great number of storm petrels (Procellaria 

 pelagica) followed in the wake of the ships, with 

 fulmars, and a few of the large shearwaters (Puffinus 

 major). In the early part of the night the barometer 

 fell very rapidly, and as it was evident that we were 

 nearing the centre of the cyclone the ' Alert ' was hove 

 to. At midnight the barometer registered 28*80, the 



