VOYAGE OF ROSS 15 



so long in high latitudes reflects great credit on their naviga- 

 tion. Had he been more circumspect in his reports of land, 

 all would have agreed that his voyage was a fine performance. 



Whilst Wilkes and D'Urville were pursuing their explora- 

 tions, Ross had sailed from England. James Ross had taken 

 part in the Northern voyages of Parry and of his uncle John 

 Ross ; in the course of these he had spent no fewer than eight 

 winters in the Arctic Regions, and he therefore brought an 

 unrivalled experience to the task of fitting out his Southern 

 command. 



For the purposes of the expedition, two old bomb vessels 

 were chosen, the 'Erebus,' 370 tons, and the • Terror,' 340 

 tons ; though slow sailers, these vessels had the advantage of 

 great structural strength, and when Ross had further fortified 

 their bows he possessed two ships capable of navigating 

 amongst the pack-ice, the first of such that had ever sailed for 

 the Southern Regions. Towards the end of the year 1840, 

 Ross arrived in Tasmania to learn that others had already 

 explored the route which he proposed to take. Whatever his 

 feelings may have been at the time, the incident proved 

 exceedingly fortunate, for it was this alone which decided him 

 to proceed south on a more easterly meridian, it being ' incon- 

 sistent with the traditions of British exploration to follow in 

 the footsteps of other nations.' 



Sailing from Hobart in November, Ross reached the 

 Antarctic Circle on New Year's Day in longitude 171 E., and 

 at the same time found himself opposed by heavy masses of 

 pack-ice. Here was the critical point at which the course 

 taken by the expedition differed from that of its predecessors. 

 Up to this time such an obstacle would have been deemed 

 insuperable, and the older navigators would have sailed their 

 light ships along its edge ; Ross, with his heavy ships, plunged 

 directly into it and continued to buffet his way to the south. 

 Making all allowance for the fortified condition of the ships, 

 it was a bold stroke, and it met with the most ample reward. 

 After pushing onward for five days through the closely packed 

 floes, the vessels burst forth to the south into an open sea. 



