ANTARCTIC CRUISE. 115 



January 25th. To-day the crew has been employed in 

 filling up the tanks with ice, obtained from an iceberg which 

 was towed alongside. Those who have used the water pro- 

 cured by this method, represent it as being of an excellent 

 quality. Each piece was allowed tt remain on deck some 

 time for the salt water to drain oft. In the afternoon we 

 landed on the solid ice, and took some magnetic observations. 

 We are once more steering to the southward. Latitude in at 

 noon 67 04' 37" south, longitude 147 42' 00" east. Tern- 

 perature of air 26, water 29. 



January 28th. During these twenty-four hours we fell in 

 with the " Porpoise," and communicated with her. We 

 found both officers and crew well and in good spirits. We 

 received from her some specimens among others the skins of 

 two sea-elephants. The wind is now blowing fresh from the 

 southward and eastward, and the weather has again become 

 very thick. The cold is intense, and coffee has been served to 

 the crew at the commencement of each watch, which is found 

 very warming and refreshing. 



January 29th. The weather continues unfavorable. At 

 9.45 A. M., the fog lifted, and we again discovered high land 

 a-head. We steered for it by the most open route, but after 

 a run of about forty miles, we were obliged to retrace our 

 course. We found ourselves beset by ice-islands and floe- 

 ice,* while at times the fog was so dense that the largest objects 

 could not be seen through it. At 10 P. M., the wind blew very 

 fresh, and we had many narrow escapes. We passed so near 

 several of the bergs, that we could distinctly hear the waves 

 dashing against their sides. Latitude in by " dead reckoning " 

 65 28' 00" south ; longitude 140 45' 00" east. Tempera- 

 ture of air 28. We are now hove-to, it being too dark to run. 



* A piece of ice of considerable size, but the sxtent of which can be distinguished. 



