76 THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Nov. 



had died away; what light remained was reflected in a ghostly 

 glimmer from the white surface of the pack ; now and again a 

 white snow petrel flitted through the gloom, the grinding of 

 the floes against the ship's side was mingled with the more 

 subdued hush of their rise and fall on the long swell, and for 

 the first time we felt something of the solemnity of these great 

 Southern solitudes. 



We had now reached lat. 62.50 S., long. 139 E., and were 

 within 200 miles of Adelie Land, discovered by Dumont 

 D'Urville. With steam we should have had small difficulty in 

 pushing on towards the land ; but already our delays had been 

 excessive, and we knew that we could not add to them if we 

 were to reach New Zealand betimes. Reluctantly the ship's 

 head was once more turned towards the north and we passed 

 again into looser ice. On the following day we passed a small 

 iceberg, the only one seen in this region. Two soundings 

 taken about this time gave depths of 2,500 and 2,300 fathoms 

 respectively, showing that the ocean depths must extend 

 moderately close to Adelie Land ; but a third taken at our 

 more southerly position gave 1,750 fathoms, rather indicating 

 that the shoaling of the greater depths was commencing. 



The tempestuous seas of the Southern oceans have one 

 great feature, lacking in other oceans, in the quantity and 

 variety of their bird life. The fact supplies an interest to the 

 voyager which can scarcely be appreciated by those who have 

 not experienced it, for not only are these roaming, tireless 

 birds seen in the distance, but in the majority of cases they 

 are attracted by a ship and gather close about her for hours, 

 and even days. The greater number are of the petrel tribe, 

 and vary in size from the greater albatrosses, with their huge 

 spread of wing and unwavering flight, to the small Wilson 

 stormy petrel, which flits under the foaming crests of the waves. 

 For centuries these birds have been the friends of sailors, who 

 designated them by more or less familiar names, some of which 

 have been preserved, whilst others have been dropped for more 

 definite titles. In the older accounts of voyages it is often 

 difficult to recognise the birds referred to; for instance, the 



